I'll be Seeing You
by Echidna's Pen
Summary: The aftermath of what happened at the spiritual retreat in 'Into the Woods'.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

'Is everything alright?'

His mother's question snapped him out of his thoughts. With gloomy eyes he looked up from his lunch to meet her concerned gaze.

'I'm fine, mom.' He managed to mutter going back to pushing his pees from one side of the plate to the other.

She knew her son all too well to see that that statement couldn't be farther from the truth, but she didn't push. Normally she would ask him until he'd cave in and share whatever was weighing on his heart. But she recognized this particular mood. It wasn't the occasional brooding disposition she had grown accustomed to. This was different and she knew instinctively that it was best not to pry. All she could do was to assure him that when he was ready she'd be there.

With a heavy heart she ran her hand through his hair settling it on the back of his neck.

He'd been this way for the last three days. Ever since he'd come back from his stay at the resort.

She'd asked Lois if something out of the ordinary had happened. The young woman had apologetically informed her that she had no recollection whatsoever of those two days.

Setting his fork next to his plate he stood up.

'I better go.'

'What time do you have to be in Metropolis?'

'Doctor said she'd be released around three.'

Martha nodded and watched as her son crossed the living room with slumped shoulders to retrieve the keys to his truck.

'Are you going to be home for dinner?'

'Yeah.'

The answer was barely audible as he exited the house.

'Hey.' He greeted with a half smile.

'Did you bring it?' Chloe quickly skipped off the bed coming to stand in front of him expectantly.

Without a word he retrieved the carton from the bag he carried. Before he could offer it to her she had already snatched it from him.

She scrambled to take the lid off at the same time as her outstretched hand demanded:

'Spoon.'

She was scooping the ice cream into her greedy mouth within a second.

'You've certainly recovered your appetite.' He noted cocking up a suspicious eyebrow in her direction.

'Actually, I'm starving! The food here is horrible and I just had this strange craving for Ben & Jerry. Vermonster… Hmm!' She hummed loudly flinging her bag over her shoulder. 'Let's get out of here.'

'Did you take care of everything?' He asked while they passed the nurses station.

'Yep.' She popped the 'p'.

He eyed her sideways as more strange sound came out of her.

'My body is definitely compensating for two weeks of aboulia.'

Noting the frown that creased his brow she explained as they exited the hospital:

'Just one of the new fun medical slang I picked up during my research for the story.' Sighing, she added: 'Boy, am I going to miss those wasted hours!'

'They still don't want to go with it?' Clark questioned holding the door to his car open for her.

She entered and waited for him to take his place at the driver's sheet before answering.

'This is not the Inquisitor, Miss Sullivan.' She said with a mocking tone.

'I'm really sorry about that, Chloe.'

She shrugged trying to look unaffected, entertaining herself by shovelling large scoops of ice cream into her. The truth was that she had put a lot of time and effort into this story, even risked her life just for the chance to have an article printed.

'I told Lois that she should go for it.'

His heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name. He'd seen her last three days ago, after they'd come directly from the resort to see Chloe. Without the doctor's knowledge they'd sneaked into the room and given her the serum. It had taken about two minutes before she was blinking and frowning up at her two best friends.

'But she decided not to.'

'Did she say why?' He tried to sound nonchalant.

'Nope.' She continued between mouthfuls of ice cream. 'I really didn't expect that from her. Knowing Lois I'd image she'd sink her teeth into this one.'

They drove silently for about five minutes until she broke the stillness with a painful groan. Clark took his eyes off the road just long enough to see her sprawled back on her seat, the empty pint dismissively dropped in her lap as she clutched her stomach.

'I feel sick.' She grumbled with a disgusted expression on her face.

'You ate too quickly.' He pointed out the obvious. 'Don't worry, we're almost there.'

Within five minutes they pulled up to the parking lot of her college dorm.

'Are you sure you don't want me to take you to Smallville?' He inquired opening the door for her and taking her bag.

He watched as she dragged her ailing body, doubled over with a protective hand over her grumbling belly.

'I'm sure your dad would want to see you.'

'He came to the hospital yester… Ah! Promise me you won't _ever_ let me eat that much ice cream in my life! Ever!' She ordered scrunching up her nose.

Clark simply rolled his eyes at her.

'Promise!' She insisted.

'Promise.' He relented.

With a pout, she stopped at the base of the stairway that led up to her apartment.

'I'm never gonna make it.'

She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

With a half-smile he easily scooped her into his arms and carried her up the stairs, only dropping her when they reached her bed.

'Thanks.' She whimpered. 'Anyway, Lois said she'd stop by tonight.'

His stomach did the familiar flop at the name.

'Oh.'

There was an awkward silence between them and Chloe frowned up at him.

'Is everything ok?'

'Yes, peachy.'

Now she was worried.

'Since when does Clark Kent say peachy?'

He shrugged putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

'I'm gonna go.'

'Already?'

'I promised my mom that I'd be home by dinner time.'

'Well, can't you just… you know…' She eyed him as she swept her hand through the air. '… whoosh your way there.'

'I brought the truck, remember?'

'So?'

'I'm not going to run back to Smallville carrying my truck on my back.'

Chloe giggled at the image but soon regretted the move, curling up on the bed as her stomach protested.

'Are you going to me ok?'

'Yeah… I'll be fine.'

Her phone rang at that moment. Exhaling deeply she sat up and fished the small device from her purse. Looking at the name flashing on the small screen she smiled:

'Jimmy.'

She flipped the lid open.

'Hey there, stranger!'

Feeling out of place Clark gestured that he was leaving.

'Bye.' She mouthed with a huge grin on her face, her stomach ache completely forgotten.

With a weak smile on his lips he left the room and jogged down the stairs.

More out of habit than actual need he pulled his jacket closer to his body when the late afternoon wind blew past him as he made his way to his truck.

Taking his seat behind the wheel he looked up at the light coming from Chloe's room. She'd be there later, to check up on her cousin.

It took all of his strength to will himself to turn the key in the ignition.

Chapter 2

'Mom?' Clark called out, placing the keys on the counter and stepping into the empty kitchen.

He walked over to the refrigerator, opened the door and he stared at its contents. Nothing seemed remotely alluring but he had to eat something eventually.

'You're back.'

He popped his head over the top of the door to acknowledge his mother's presence.

'Hey, mom.' He muttered going back to his search.

'_Well, at least his appetite is back._' She thought a bit relieved.

The feeling quickly faded when he closed the refrigerator with empty hands.

'I made pot-roast!' She tried to keep the anxiety out of her voice.

'I'm not too hungry. I think I'll just go to the barn.' He announced coming around his mother.

'Honey?'

'Yeah?'

She looked up to find the sorrow in his eyes.

'You know you can talk to me…'

'I know, mom. Everything's fine. I'm just tired.'

With a feeble attempt at a smile he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

Martha watched him droopily make his way out of the house. Sighing she reached for the cell phone and dialled the number.

'Hello?'

'Mrs. Kent?'

'Hey, Chloe. How are you?'

'I'm fine. Did Clark make it home?' Chloe inquired from the other side of the line.

'Yeah, he's here. That's why I'm calling, actually. Did you notice something… different about Clark?'

'Different? No, I- Mrs. Kent could you just hold on for a second, someone's at my door.'

'Sure.'

The door was swung open to reveal Lois.

'Hey, cus.' She greeted stepping into the room.

'Yeah, Mrs. Kent. It's just Lois.'

Sitting on the bed, Lois's gaze followed her cousin as she paced around the small space, the cell phone glued to her ear.

'What do you mean different?'

'It's just… Ever since he came back from that place Clark's been so… gloomy. He doesn't eat, he hardly says a word and when he's not doing his chores he just disappears up to the loft.'

'Oh, do you think he's still under the effect of- '

Lois's attention was peaked.

'Oh, no!' Mrs. Kent quickly replied. 'He's just… sad. I haven't seen him this way since…' She swallowed at the painful memory. '… his father passed away.' She managed to word out.

'I'm so sorry, Mrs. Kent. I didn't realise it was that bad. Now that I think about it he wasn't very chatty when we came back from the hospital.'

Lois was now standing and looking at her cousin intently, trying to read her body language. There was something wrong with Smallville.

'What's wrong?' She mouthed when her gaze finally met Chloe's.

The blonde put up her hand as she tried to listen to what Mrs. Kent was saying.

'Since he came back from the cabins? Hold on a second.'

Putting her hand over the phone she turned to her cousin:

'Did something happen at the cabins?'

A reddish tone crept up her neck to colour Lois' cheeks.

'No, not that I know of.'

Thankfully the nervousness she felt in her stomach didn't filter into her voice.

'Lois says-'

'I've spoken to her, honey.' Martha cut her off.

'I don't know what to tell you, Mrs. Kent. He didn't tell me anything.' Chloe continued a bit apprehensive. 'I wish I could be there, but I missed a lot of classes plus with things at the Daily Planet...'

'It's ok, Chloe. You don't have to apologize.' Martha pursed her lips together for a closed smile.

'Next time I see him I'll try to-' Her gaze fell on Lois.

Lois's eyes grew large when she recognized the expression on her cousin's face. She was going to be in trouble.

'Lois says she can be there tonight.' Chloe announced into the phone; half a grin on her lips.

'What? No I didn't!' Lois hissed with a deep scowl.

'Oh, that would be great! He doesn't seem to want to talk me anything. Maybe Lois can get to him.'

In the meantime Lois's hand waved vehemently in front of Chloe's face trying to get the small blonde's attention.

'Are you sure she can make it here tonight? It's a long drive.'

'Lois is saying she'd be more that willing to drive there tonight. No problem!' Chloe lied shamelessly, ignoring the fuming brunette staring daggers at her. 'You're more than welcome! Bye.'

'What did you do?' Lois questioned the moment she was off the phone.

Trying to control the anger bubbling to the surface she set her hands on her hips.

'Well…' Chloe began with a sugary tone. 'Knowing just how devoted you are to helping others I… kinda offered your services.'

'Kinda?' Lois contemptuously tilted her head sideways.

'Mrs. Kent is worried about Clark, apparently he's in one of his brooding moods and she doesn't know what to do.'

'And where do I fit into this sap story?'

'I said you'd drive over tonight. See what you can dig up.' Chloe protectively narrowed her eyes at her as if preparing for a blow.

'What? NO! I'm not going at this hour! It's gonna be midnight by the time I get there.' Lois passionately shook her head.

'Oh, come on Lois, Clark needs you!' Chloe argued just as avidly. 'Mrs. Kent says he doesn't talk, he barely eats, he-he's a mess! Something's eating at him.' Being a veteran writer, Chloe added a dramatic pause before pulling out her trump. 'She says he hasn't been this bad since Mr. Kent died.'

A lump instantly formed in Lois's throat and the anger mysteriously subsided.

'And what makes you think Smallville will want to talk to me? We don't even like each other.' She pointed out after a couple of seconds.

'You guys have been growing close-'

'We're NOT close!' Lois corrected a little too hastily causing Chloe to frown. 'I-I mean... You're the best friend.' Lois back peddled. 'I'm the best friend's pushy cousin who spends her time making he's life miserable. You're the listener; I'm the banter buddy, that's how it works. You don't mess with perfection!'

'You know I can't go over there tonight I have a ton of work backed up at the Planet and way too many missed classes. Come on, just do this for me!' Chloe's lower jutted out for added effect.

After moment of silence Lois exhaled sharply and she relented:

'Fine.'

'Oh, thank you, thank you.' Chloe excitedly clapped her hands together like a giddy little girl.

'But you owe me big time and believe me, this time, I'm collecting.' Lois warned pointing an accusing finger at her.

'Sure, sure with preposterous interests.' Chloe nodded shoving her cousin in the direction of the door.

'Hey, what are you doing?' Lois asked when she found herself being driven out of the room.

'You have to hit the road or you'll be late. Now go.'

'My bag!'

Lois clumsily pointed at the item tossed on the bed.

Quickly turning around Chloe retrieved it and shoved it into Lois' hands effectively pushing her over the threshold.

'Bye, love you cus.' She gave her a toothy grin.

'Yeah, yeah...' Lois mumbled.

She was on her way down the hall when Chloe called out:

'Lois! Call me to let me know how it went.'

With that she slammed the door closed leaving a dumbfounded Lois out in the hall.

Lois inhaled deeply, putting on her trademark wide smile before pushing the screen door open.

'Hello?' She called entering the house.

There was no reply.

'Mrs. Kent?' She continued, speaking loudly while looking around for a familiar face.

She made her way into the kitchen.

'Lois! You're here!'

Jolting up, turning around to find Martha standing behind her with open arms.

'It's so nice to see you, sweetheart.'

Soon Lois was lost in a warm, welcoming hug. That alone was worth the daunting task that lay a head of her.

'I haven't seen you since you and Clark left for the resort.'

'We did speak on the phone.' Lois corrected.

'That doesn't count.' She said dismissively.

Martha took a long look at the woman standing in front of her.

'You look different.' She finally stated with a scrutinizing frown.

'What do you mean?' Lois swallowed.

'I don't know…' The crease continued to mar her features as she tried to figure out what was different about Lois. 'Have you been eating?'

'Like a horse. As usual.'

'You look…'

'Different?' Lois supplied with a hint of sarcasm.

Martha smiled sympathetically, reading the uneasiness behind Lois' cheery facade.

'Is everything ok?'

'Everything's fine.' Lois assured her.

She was starting to get a little unnerved under the intense scrutiny, much like a one of those frogs in Biology classes.

'You sound like Clark. I'm really worried about him.'

'I know, Chloe told me.' Lois replied, glad that the focus diverted from her. 'And that's why I'm here.' Clasping her hands together, ready for work, she asked: 'So, where is everyone's favourite flannel-wearing farm boy?'

'Oh, he's out at the barn. He's been sleeping there these last few days.'

'Ok. To the barn it is.' She said strutting her way to the door but stopped when Mrs. Kent called:

'Lois…'

People had to stop doing that – calling her just as she is about to leave. It ruined a perfectly good exit. She turned.

'Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me.'

'You're welcome, Mrs. Kent.' She guaranteed with a soft smile.


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 3**

It had taken her exactly fifteen minutes to get from the house to the barn door. She didn't think it was possible to take so long crossing such a small distance but she'd managed to take fifteen whole minutes and it still seemed too fast.

Much like she had done before entering the Kent household she inhaled deeply before passing the threshold into the barn.

She could see the light coming from the top floor. He was still up.

'_Damn it!'_

She'd hoped that he'd be fast asleep. That way she could simply march back to the house, say her goodbyes and leave but, no… He had to be awake.

'_Perfect!' _She grumbled in her mind, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

When she was satisfied with the amount of courage she'd managed to build up she began stomping her way up.

He lay on the couch, using it as a bed, trying to will himself to sleep. He had the sneaking suspicious that, much like it had happened in the last three nights straight, he wouldn't be able to achieve that goal. He prepared himself for another night of staring up at the ceiling. By now he had committed to memory every slab, every dent, every nail, every-

'Hey, Smallville!'

He jolted up off the couch at the sound of her voice, his hands instinctively clenching around the sheet and dragging it with him.

She was here! What was she doing here?!

She faltered in mid stride, her heart jumping to her throat at the sight of him.

He stood there, bug-eyed, clutching a sheet in his hand and…

'_Shirtless? Who sleeps shirtless in November?'_

She apprehensively heard the seconds ticking away loudly in her mind as they remained frozen in silence.

'Wha-'

He cleared his throat.

'What are you doing here?' He ultimately voiced out breaking the uncomfortable stillness.

She gulped.

_ 'Just keep your eyes on his face.'_ Her brain ordered.

They didn't seem to be in a complying mood though.

_ 'The face Lois! The face!'_

After a second she was able to move her gaze up to meet his.

She felt her stomach contract fiercely.

'I just… um… Your mom… she… um… and Chloe…'

As frustration gripped her she snapped:

'Could you just put on a shirt already?'

Looking down Clark became aware of his current state of undress. His eyes darted around as he fretfully searched for something, eventually finding an old shirt draped over a nearby chair.

Snatching it, he quickly slipped it on but was faced with a major predicament when it came to buttoning it up. He clumsily struggled with it for a couple of minutes before the task was completed.

When he was done he looked up to find her still standing at the top of the staircase, her arms defensively crossed over her chest. He waited for her to say something, he was sure he wouldn't be able to speak. Not so soon after, at least not while he could feel his heart racing in his throat.

'I hear you're trying your hand at a Ghandi impersonation?' She spoke walking into his loft. 'How's that going for you?'

Acutely aware of the distance linking them she made a mental note to always keep at least one piece of furniture between them. This time the item chosen was the coffee table.

'Did my mom put you up to this?' He managed to sound relatively relaxed.

'She's worried about you.' She cut straight to it. 'Why the sulking?'

The sooner she got a few answers the sooner she'd be out of there.

'I'm not sulking.' He retorted.

He was moving now and Lois' mind went on full alert. With his hands in his pockets he walked up the step toward the large window; away from her.

'_Good.'_

'I'm fine.'

'Right, cause fasting is all the new rage! All the kids are doing it today and you decided to join in. How very drone-like of you.' She mocked playfully.

He didn't reply.

'It's not Lana-brooding, is it?' She sighed.

He turned around to face her.

'It's not Lana and I've told you I'm fine.'

This wasn't going to work. Taking her chances she walked up to him but kept her rule and selected the telescope as her protection.

'_Protection from what?'_ The pesky side of her mind inquired. She pushed the question away.

'Your mother is really worried.' She repeated. 'I like Mrs. Kent. She's a great lady and a wonderful boss. I don't like seeing her worried, now spill.'

'There's nothing to spill.' He insisted burying his hands deeper into his pockets. 'I guess I'm just tired.'

'Of what?! Moping around?'

When he didn't answer she shrugged:

'Ok, then! I guess I'll just have to come up with something on my own. Let's see... um… the college experience, after a short delay, finally kicked in. You find yourself going through a scary and confusing sexual identity crisis and you just don't know how to face your friends and family. How's that? Think your mom will buy it?'

Unknowingly, his saddened eyes travelled up and down her frame as he replied:

'Lois, believe me when I tell you I have no doubts about my sexual preferences.'

Her eyes grew large and she gulped.

He frowned at her reaction. Was she blushing? Why was she blush-?

His eyes widened. Did she remember?

'Lois...' He began cautiously coming around the telescope shortening the distance between them.

In direct opposition to his movement she backed away.

He halted, creasing his brow as he tried to read her reactions.

She was avoiding meeting his gaze.

'Lois…?' He stepped closer and she promptly made her way across the loft as she spoke a little too quickly to sound at ease:

'You've said that already, Smallville. I guess the lack of nourishment is getting to you.'

She added a forced laugh in a failed attempt to appear relaxed.

'Why are you fidgeting?' He asked walking over to her.

'I-I'm not fidgeting!' She puffed fiddling with the top of the couch as she continued to back away.

He pointedly looked at her fretful fingers.

'What?!' She asked defensively crossing her arms in order to stop the nervous tick. 'So I had one too many cups of coffee.'

Trying to test a theory he moved toward her.

'_And off she goes!'_

Within two seconds she had successfully put the couch and the coffee table between them.

Theory proven.

'Why are you running from me?'

'Who's running?'

'You are.'

To prove it he took a step forward and sure enough she took one back.

He raised his eyebrow at her, convinced that he'd made his point.

'Well, if you don't want to talk about it I guess that's just fine.' She was making her way to the stairs. She'd almost made. Almost.

She came to a halt when he stepped into her path.

'What?' She defiantly lifted her chin up at him.

'Lois…' There was a hint of a smile on his lips; his head tilted to the side was he towered over her. 'Why are you nervous?'

'Nervous? Me? I don't do nervous?'

He just stared, the trademark goofy Clark smile taking over.

_ 'Think, Lois, just think. This is Smallville, fooling him isn't exactly brain surgery.'_ She mentally coaxed herself.

And then it came to her.

'I just suck at this.'

'This?' He frowned confused.

'This whole buddy-buddy thing. Chloe is the one that should be here, not me. I don't know how to do this.' She waved her arms around emphatically. 'Chloe couldn't make it so she sent me. I told her it wouldn't work and guess what? I was right.'

She saw the moment the hope inside of him was crushed.

'Oh…' It was barely audible.

'I'm sorry.' She paused. 'I can't do this.'

The double meaning of her words didn't go unnoticed by her.

With slumped shoulders he moved, clearing the path for her.

She watched as he went back to the window.

'Goodnight, Clark.'

She barely heard the muttered reply:

'Night, Lois.'

The unyielding lump in her throat seemed to grow with every step she took toward the house and away from the barn.

'Mrs. Kent?' She called entering the living room.

The older woman quickly came out of the kitchen to meet her; an anxious look on her face.

'I'm sorry.' She apologized sincerely, dropping her gaze to the floor in shame.

The warmth of Mrs. Kent's arms around her only served to increase the feeling of self-loathing inside.

'At least you tried.' Lois heard her say.

Pulling away from the embrace she tensely pushed her bangs behind her right ear.

'I better get going.'

'Oh, no! It's too late for you to be driving around.' Martha shook her head as she practically pulled Lois across the living room.

'I can't, Mrs. Kent. I-I have this article I have to-' She stuttered as she was dragged up the stairs.

What was this? Did everyone jump on the _push-Lois-around _wagon?

'You'll stay here tonight. I've already made up Clark's bed.' Martha insisted.

Before Lois knew it she was up the stairs and standing in the familiar room that had been hers during almost an entire year.

'Goodnight, Lois.'

She was hardly aware of the door closing behind her. As she inhaled the scent in the room a rapid succession of inconsistent images flashed in front of her eyes.

Her eyes grew large; her stomach clenched tightly.

** Chapter 4**

Clark dragged his feet, running his hand through his dishevelled hair as he turned on the water and waited for it to warm up.

Another sleepless night. This one in particular had been the worst of them. He'd been feeling increasingly guilty about withholding such vital information from her. Ever since they'd gotten back he'd been mulling over it. It was wrong to keep this from her. How could he have done it? He was a coward.

He could hardly face his mother, avoiding her as much as possible and seeking refuge in his loft.

Last night, when he'd seen her fidget, the redness in her cheeks, he'd thought she'd remembered. A mixture of fear and relief caused his heart skip a beat when the idea had entered his mind. But then he'd realised where the anxiety had come from.

Lois was never really good at dealing with emotions – that he knew. It made sense that she'd feel uncomfortable being pushed into playing the role of confidante.

Stepping into the shower he hoped that the warm water would dull the sting in his chest.

A groan echoed in the room as the rays of light filtered through the shades to set on her slumbering face. She squinted, her lower lip jutting out in protest before she flung her arm and covered her face with the bedspread.

It was way too early.

She had just managed to get to sleep. The distraught expression of a certain farm boy had plagued her mind for hours until exhaustion had won over and she'd dozed off.

She was so tired she didn't even hear the door opening.

That was strange. He was sure he'd made his bed the last time he'd slept in it. Then again it had been so long he wasn't sure anymore.

Shrugging he walked over to his closet. Picking out a pair of jeans he was about to put them on when he noticed a stain. He flung them dismissively over his shoulder and they landed on the bed.

Lois was jolted out of her dreams when something hit her. She tried to ignore it and return to her sleep when she felt something else fall on her.

'Chloe, do you mind I-' She stopped in mid sentence when she realised just where she was.

Clark snapped around to find her sitting in his bed. Her hair was messy, her sleepy eyes were large in shock, her cheeks were flushed. She was gorgeous.

Oh, right! She'd spent the night at the Kents. The memories rushed back into her mind. She'd come over, at Chloe's request, to check on Clark and when she was about to leave Mrs. Kent had practically dragged her into his room.

Now she was sitting in his bed, staring back at a towel-wearing, freshly bathed and soaking wet Clark Kent. She followed a drop of water as it made its way down his chest before disappearing into his bellybutton.

Forcing her gaze up she summoned the snarky side of her for a cool reply:

'Becoming allergic to clothing are we?' She cocked an eyebrow at him. 'Or is this part of the Ghandi thing you have going?'

She was amazed at how composed that had come out. Maybe there was hope for her after all.

She was confronted with Clark nakedness and still she was cool and collected.

_ 'Good for me.'_

'I-I didn't know you were here.' He gulped.

His eyebrows came together over the bridge of his nose, giving him that goofy expression and she felt her stomach flop.

She mentally rolled her eyes.

_ 'I guess you're not out of the woods yet.'_ She noted swinging her legs out of the side of the bed and standing up.

'Your mom didn't want me driving in the middle of the night so I stayed.' She walked over to the door as she talked.

Clark's dumbfounded gaze followed her.

'Room's all yours, Smallville. Just put some clothes on.' She said over her shoulder while she left the room.

The moment the door closed behind her she let out the breath she'd unintentionally been holding it.

_ 'God, that was hard!'_ She muttered.

'Good morning, sweetheart!'

He heard his mother's warm greeting as he entered the kitchen.

'Morning.' He replied a little less enthusiastically.

'How did you sleep?'

'Fine.'

'I made you pancakes.' Martha offered hoping that her son would eat something.

'Thanks.'

He looked down at the plate of pancakes that she handed him before taking it over to the table.

'So… Lois slept over, huh?' He tried to sound as uninterested as possible.

So far he seemed to be successful. He didn't detect any suspicion in his mother's reply:

'It was really late and I didn't want her driving in the middle of the night.'

He simply nodded and went about setting the table.

'Do you know if she's up yet?'

He nodded and set an extra plate for her, for some reason that seemed to loosen the tightness in his chest.

It had been a long time since three plates had been set for breakfast at that table.

His pulse jumped to attention when his hearing picked up on her footsteps.

'Good morning, Mrs. Kent.' She greeted with a smile.

'Good morning.' Martha replied taking off her apron and walking over to the table.

'That smells wonderful!' She beamed inhaling deeply. 'I didn't realise just how much I've missed the Kent breakfast.'

'Thank you.'

The three sat down, Clark at the head of the table, his mother and Lois on either side of him.

He sat back and watched as Lois poured a ridiculous amount of corn syrup over her stack of pancakes. Picking up her fork she dug into it, bringing a large bite into her mouth.

'Hmm…' She hummed with her eyes closed.

Her over the top reaction elicited a smile from Mrs. Kent.

She really did like to eat and she had a voracious appetite to go with it.

'Don't you think you ought to slow down there?' Clark suggested with a hint of sarcasm.

'I'm not the one doing the Kate Moss impersonation.' She said between large bites.

Using her fork she pointed at his plate which was still full.

'Eat.' She commanded.

Much to Martha's surprise he did as he was told.

They continued to eat, the silence being randomly broken by a content moan or purring sound coming from Lois.

It was too distracting. Every time she did it it triggered a very recent and not so wholesome memory of her.

He shifted in his seat as the images flashing in front of him began to have a noticeable effect on his body.

She moaned again.

'Lois?! Do you have to keep doing that?' Clark complained throwing her an exasperated look.

She ignored him and simply repeated her previous command:

'Eat.'

Martha watched as her son's gaze lingered on the young brunette a little longer than necessary before it returned to his breakfast.

She didn't comment on it, but all throughout the meal she had caught the sideways glances he'd been sneaking in Lois' direction.

'_A mother's instinct in never wrong._' She smiled to herself pleased to see the change in her son.

Putting down her fork Lois leaned back in her chair.

'I'm stuffed. That was amazing, Mrs. Kent.'

'You're more than welcome, sweetheart.'

'Well, I better-'

Her attempt at making an exit was foiled when Mrs. Kent quickly cut her off:

'Ah, Lois do you have that report I asked you?'

'Um… yeah.' Lois frowned. 'I have it in my laptop, in the car. I still haven't finished going through it, though. I thought I could get it done today.'

'Good, as soon as Clark is done I'll clear the table and you can get right on it.' Martha said returning her attention to her plate.

'Oh!' Lois gaze awkwardly met Clark's for a second. 'I was kinda thinking I could do it at home.'

'Nonsense.' Martha shook her head standing up to clear the table.

Picking up her son's empty plate she couldn't help but smile. Apparently his appetite was back.

'A-are you sure? Cause I could just go and-'

'Just give me five minutes to clear the table.'

Slumping into her seat, much like a scolded child, Lois watched as Martha cleared the dishes.

The two sat in silence avoiding each other's gaze.

She was never getting out of there, was she?


	3. Chapter 3

** Chapter 5**

She narrowed her eyes at the computer screen. It was the third time she was reading that sentence and it happened again. By the time she came to the end of it her mind had trailed off in search of something more interesting to mull over.

The fact that Clark kept showing up out of nowhere wasn't helping her either.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head when she identified the distinct sound of the screen door screeching open.

Setting her jaw she looked up and stared daggers at him.

'What?' He replied innocently stepping into the living room.

'Clark, it's the sixth time you've come in here today. Last time you were thirsty, before that it was the freakish need to change your shirt, and before that… well, I can't even remember what came before that.'

'Oh!'

'Oh doesn't cut it, buddy! Don't you have some corn to pick? Maybe move around a few stacks of hey?' She asked exasperated. 'I swear five minutes ago I saw a cow in desperate need of being milked pass by. If you hurry I'm pretty sure can catch her.' She scoffed.

Clark twisted his lips into a mock smile.

She mimicked his reaction adding a head tilt.

'I need to work!' She exclaimed.

'Fine!' He held his hands up as he backed away. 'I'm going.'

Inhaling deeply she looked back at the screen trying to tackle the ridiculously long sentence in front of her.

'Haven't these people ever heard of short and to the point?'

Five minutes later she growled when she heard footsteps.

'What?! Can't you just- Oh, Mrs. Kent I thought…' Shaking her head she trailed off. 'Nothing.'

'Are you ok?' The older woman asked.

'I'm fine. I swear this is the report from hell, but other than that I'm fine.'

'Maybe a break would help. Lunch is ready. Do you mind calling Clark?'

'Sure.' Lois relented stretching her neck as she closed the laptop.

He had to do it. That's what he told himself over and over again. It was the right thing to do. It was decided, now all he needed now was to find the courage to actually go through with it.

The first time he'd tried he didn't even make it to the door before turning around. The following six times he'd just lost the nerve the moment she'd looked up at him.

She was going to hate him for lying to her.

He sighed at his predicament picking another chunk of wood and placing it on the block.

She shoved her hand into the back pockets of her jeans as she approached him.

Apparently he hadn't followed up on the cow lead she'd given him and had decided to chop some wood instead.

She watched as he effortlessly lifted the heavy axe over his head before letting it drop on the large trunk in front of him.

She cleared her throat.

Startled, he turned around to face her. He still hadn't gotten used to the spasm in his stomach every time she was around him.

'Hey.' He greeted weakly.

How was he supposed to tell her?

'It's chow time!' She announced unceremoniously, turning around to head back to the house.

'Wait up.' He called quickly jogging his way up to her.

The walk back to the house seemed endless in the painful silence.

'Did you manage to finish the report?' He asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

'Not yet.' She grumbled walking up the porch steps.

He didn't know why but before he realised it he quickly moved around her to hold the door open for her.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Since when did he hold doors open for her?

'What are you doing?'

He couldn't ignore the accusing tone in her question.

His gaze awkwardly bounced from the door to her and back again.

'I-I don't know- I'

'I don't need you to do that for me.' She mumbled stepping into the house.

'Fine, I won't do it again.' He retorted.

The two entered the kitchen area, the smell of a warm home cooked meal filling the air.

'That smells great, mom!' He complimented.

He was about to reach for one of the potatoes when his mother swatted his hand away.

'Go wash up.'

He leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the forehead before running up the stairs.

Lois' wary eyes followed him.

'You too missy.'

'Huh?'

'Go wash up.'

'But my hands aren't dirty. I was-'

The look on Mrs. Kent's face told her there was no point in arguing.

Sighing she made her way to the bathroom.

She pushed the door open not bothering to apologize when it hit his back.

'Hey!' He protested.

She simply turned on the water and proceeded with washing her hands. When she was done she turned to find him standing there, in front of the towel rack and taking way too much space.

'Do you mind?'

He stepped aside and she was able to squeeze past and reach her goal. When she was done drying her hands she turned to leave and once again he was in her way.

He stood there, just staring her.

This was it! He was going to do it!

'Lois, there is something I have to tell you.'

'What?' She set her hands on her hips, letting out an exasperated sigh.

'I… it's about…' He could hear his heartbeat in his ears and feel his pulse racing in his throat.

'Can this wait?' She cut him off. 'I'm kinda hungry.'

Not bothering to wait for a reply she pushed past him and was out of the bathroom.

She kept her eyes on the plate she was currently scrubbing, trying hard to ignore the numerous apprehensive sideway glances he was throwing her way.

'_Only one more pot to go and then you are home free._' Her mind coaxed her.

For the last ten minutes they had been doing the dishes and for the last nine he'd been trying to figure out how to start this conversation. Why did she have to cut him off back in the bathroom? He could've been done with this by now.

He picked up the next glass and began drying it while sneaking another fleeting look in her direction.

That did it!

She dropped the dish in the sink with a loud clang, causing him to jump up.

'What?! What is it?' She demanded looking up at him.

He simply stared bug-eyed at her.

'I-I-'

'You what? Spill it out, Smallville!'

'I-I need to talk to you about something.' He blurted.

Clumsily drying her hands on the apron she was wearing she leaned against the sink, folded her arms over her chest and waited.

He gulped. He was actually going to do it. There was nothing stopping him. His mom had gone out on an errand so there was no chance of interruption.

Setting the glass and the towel on the counter he hesitantly pulled her away from the sink and across the kitchen.

'_Better get her away from anything remotely breakable._' His brain told him.

Oh, that wasn't good. The tone in his voice, the _can-I-have-some-more_ look on his face… Yep, whatever he had to say she didn't want to hear.

'It's about those two days we spent at… Ruth's.'

She _ definitely_ didn't want to hear about that!

Her mind began racing trying to come up with an excuse to end this conversation or at least steer the topic in another direction.

'Do you remember anything…' He attentively asked.

'No!'

'_That came out a little too quickly.'_ Her brain chastised.

'Nothing?'

'Nothing.' She shook her head.

'Not even-'

'Nothing!' She insisted dangerously widening her eyes at him.

'It's just that… there is something I didn't-'

'You know what I just remembered I have this thing.'

'Thing?' He frowned.

'Yes, a thing.' She nodded vehemently scurrying out of the kitchen and into the living room.

He watched with a puzzled look on his face as she gathered up her things in record time.

'I-I have to go.'

'But can't you just-'

'I can't I have to go. Bye, Smallville.'

And just like that he was left stunned standing in the middle of his living room.

'What was that about?' He wondered out loud.

** Chapter 6**

Three whole weeks had gone by and she had successfully avoided him.

'Not avoiding. I'm not avoiding anyone!' She mumbled to herself.

'What?'

Chloe's voice snapped her out of her thought.

'Nothing.' She slurred, protectively tugging her coat around her frame, trying to shield herself from the cold. 'Tell me again why I'm out here freezing my fanny off instead of back at home with a warm cup of coffee in my hand?'

'I told you, we have to find the perfect Christmas tree.'

'Christmas is in less than two weeks. Don't you think you're a little late with the Christmas decorations?' Lois retorted wobbly navigating her way around the large trees.

'I didn't have time until Christmas break came.' Chloe argued.

No matter how much her cousin tried she wasn't going to ruin her Christmas spirit. She wanted to get her dad the best tree she could find and that's just what she was going to do.

Lois felt like her jaw was frozen in place.

'I hate the cold.'

'Will you stop grumbling already? You've been in a lousy mood for the last three weeks. What's gotten into you?'

'Nothing…' Lois muttered before exclaiming with false enthusiasm: 'Look, this one's perfect!' She pointed out.

Chloe inspected the article in question and after careful consideration gave her verdict.

'No.'

And off she went, a desperately freezing Lois trailing behind.

'No? It's perfect! What's not to like about it? It's got a trunk and branches and little green thorn-like thingies that serve as leaves. It was perfect!'

All she wanted was to go home and bury her ailing body under her bedcovers.

_ 'Warm, wonderful bedcovers…'_ She mused whimpering at yet another chilly gush of wind.

'What about this one?' She asked expectantly.

Chloe stared at it trying to asses its potential. Lois practically whimpered when she saw her cousin's nose scrunch up in disapproval.

'What's wrong with this one?' Lois half-whined.

'It's not big enough!' Chloe explained walking away.

'Not big enough? You do realise that nothing bigger than that is going to fit in my car.' Lois pointed out following her.

'That's why we're not using your car.'

'Huh?'

Lois felt a hint of fear tugging at her heart when she saw the wide mischievous grin on her cousin's face.

'What do you mean-'

'There he is!'

Lois' gaze followed Chloe's to find the object of her attention. Her heat jumped to her throat.

'Clark? Wha-what is he doing here?'

'We're using his truck.' Chloe informed before going over and throwing her arms around the large man, leaving her gobsmacked cousin with her feet firmly planted on the snowy ground.

'Merry Christmas!' She greeted cheerfully over his shoulder.

'It's a little early for that, don't you think?' He replied with his eyes glued on the brunette reluctantly coming in their direction.

Letting go of Chloe he greeted: 'Lois.'

'Smallville.' She gave him a tight smile, holding his gaze.

He gulped. It seemed like an eternity since he'd last seen her.

'What do you think of this one, Clark?' When she didn't get an answer Chloe turned: 'Clark?'

'What?' He broke eye contact to look at the tree Chloe was pointing out. 'That one's nice.'

'I like it!' The small blonde decided.

'It looks exactly the same as the other one million we passed. You know, way back when not every joint in my body was frozen solid.' Lois grumbled as she watched her cousin taking out her money.

'So…' Clark started awkwardly with his hands buried in his jeans. 'I haven't seen you since-'

'I've been really busy.' She replied before he could finish.

'Oh!'

'Yeah…'

God, this was painful!

_ 'Just buy the damn tree already.' _ Lois protested in her mind, dropping her gaze to the floor.

Finding the silence suffocating Clark tried to break it:

'Where are you spending Christmas Eve?'

'I don't know. Probably with Chloe and her dad.' She explained.

She was too busy shovelling the snow with her right foot to notice the change in his expression.

'Oh, so you're going to-'

'Clark!'

He turned to see a toothy Chloe waiting for him by her tree.

'I better…'

'Yeah…'

She watched as he reached for the tree and began dragging it leaving a trail in the snow.

'Chloe!' She called.

'Yeah?'

'I'll meet you at home. I'm taking my car.'

'Ok!'

Muttering between clenched teeth she sighed: 'Thank God that's over!'

After four hour of driving around in circles, quite literally since Smallville was so… well… small, she managed to knock at her cousin's door.

'Hey!' She greeted walking in and scanning her surroundings. There was no sign of him.

Her gaze landed on the now decorated tree standing in the corner.

'Wow! Actually looks good, Chloe!' She complimented relaxing when she was certain that there was no chance of Clark popping out from behind the counter.

'I told you it was worth it.'

'Nothing is worth the torture I withstood today.' Lois tilted her head signalling that her cousin still owed her for those two hours of her life.

'I made coffee.' It was Chloe's peace offering.

'I knew there was a reason I loved you, cus.' Lois' demeanour instantly changed to a more pleasant one at the mention of coffee.

'There you go.'

Chloe handed her a warm cup.

Lois sat on the couch, legs crossed under her weight as she took a sip.

'Hmm… Perfect!'

Chloe simply smiled taking her place next to her cousin and admiring her handy work.

'It is pretty good, isn't it?'

'Yes, it is.' Lois smirked at her.

Chloe looked so proud of her achievement.

'Has Uncle Gabe seen it?' She asked taking another sip.

'No. He should be here in about an hour. Anyway, what took you so long to get here?' Chloe asked with a frown.

'I-I had a few errands to run.' Lois lied, trying to divert the attention from her she pointed at the lit tree. 'Uncle Gabe's gonna love it.'

'Yeah, I think so too.'

After a few moments of silence Lois spoke:

'By the way. I was thinking of spending Christmas with you guys, is that ok?'

Looking at her cousin with a warm smile on her face Chloe immediately answered:

'Of course you can! Mrs. Kent would love to have you there. She was actually going to call you to-'

'Hey, backtrack there for a second.' Lois cut in. 'Mrs. Kent?'

'Yeah, you knew me and dad were going to spend Christmas Eve at the Kents.' Chloe frowned.

'No, I didn't!' Lois denied vehemently.

'Yes, you did.' Chloe insisted. 'You were there when we talked about it at Thanksgiving.'

'When did we talk about that?' Lois was drawing a complete blank.

'In the kitchen, after dinner, you, me and Mrs. Kent. She was doing the dishes and commented on how nervous she had been about their first Thanksgiving without Mr. Kent because of Clark. She thanked us, saying that having us there helped make the transition?'

Lois looked at her with a gobsmacked expression.

Complete blank.

'Then we started talking about Christmas and that's when she invited us to come over. You said you weren't sure you could come because of Oliver. But since you and he…'

She trailed off trying to read her cousin's expression.

Their break up had been very sudden and the two had never really talked about it. Lois wasn't the most open person when it came to discussing on her personal relationships, so she hadn't pushed. Plus the whole Ruth thing had happened a little after and everything had just been forgotten.

Lois still looked at her with no hint of remembering the conversation.

'You even made this ridiculous quip about not kissing anyone no matter how much mistletoe was hanging over your head? Remember?'

That did sound like something she'd say. She hated that tradition.

'I guess…'

Chloe simply rolled her eyes at her, finishing her coffee she picked her cousin's empty cup and stood up.

'Anyway, I'm going by the Kent farm tomorrow I'll let Mrs. Kent know you're coming.'

'But…' She trailed off when she realised Chloe had already left the room.

And once again she was forced into a situation she really didn't want to be in.

Somewhere along the way, during these last few weeks, she'd lost control over her life. Everyone else seemed to be making her decisions for her. Where she was going to sleep, where she was going to spend Christmas...

What the hell was happening?


	4. Chapter 4

** Chapter 7**

The unexpected ringing that came from the screen door caused him to redirect his gaze and find Chloe walking in.

'Hey, Clark!' She greeted with her usual cheerful mood. 'Good morning, Mrs. Kent!'

'Good morning, Chloe! Have you had breakfast?' Martha asked from her place at the table.

Chloe nodded setting her bag on an empty chair before she took one for herself next to Clark.

'You're up early.' He noted taking a last sip of his glass of orange juice.

'We had a shopping date, remember?'

It was his turn to nod. This was going to be hell; shopping less than two weeks before Christmas.

'I want to get to Metropolis before all the stores get overcrowded.'

'I don't think that's an option, Chloe. By this time of the year people are lining up outside even before the stores have opened.' Clark half-grumbled taking his plate from the table and carrying it to the sink.

'It's gonna be fun.' She said offhandedly following him and his mother into the kitchen and bringing with her the last dishes. 'Mrs. Kent, I needed to talk to you about something.'

'What is it?' Martha questioned while rolling up her sleeves.

'Is there any chance you might be able to squeeze in two extra plates at the table for Christmas Eve.' Chloe's eyebrows came together as she spoke.

Clark's attention was peaked, but he stood quietly listening to their conversation.

'I know it's really last minute but…'

'Of course there is room.' Martha quickly replied with a smile as she began washing the dishes.

'It's just that… you know Lois-'

Clark tried not to show any outward sign when his heart skipped a beat.

'She completely forgot about our conversation during Halloween and she didn't remember that my dad and I were going to spend Christmas here. Anyway, last night she asked if she could-'

'Oh, sweetheart! You didn't even have to ask. You know Lois is always welcome in our home. It would be wonderful to have her here for Christmas. Wouldn't it, Clark?'

He was caught off guard by the question and ended up burbling out:

'Yeah… sure…'

Finishing the dishes, Martha dried her hands on a nearby towel and turned to face Chloe.

'And the other extra plate? Is it for Oliver?'

A half-growl was heard. Both women frowned and looked at Clark. Nervously he backpeddled by pretending to be clearing his throat.

With her brow still slightly creased, Chloe's attention returned to the older woman standing in front of her.

'Actually, no. He and Lois aren't… together again. She hasn't heard from him since the broke up.'

Relief rumbled in Clark's chest at the statement.

'Oh!' Martha's gaze quickly found her son.

He had a hint of that goofy grin on his face and she smiled.

'The extra plate was for Jimmy, my boyfriend? He says that Halloween didn't go very well and-'

'You don't have to explain anything. You can tell Jimmy he is welcome as well.' Martha interrupted once again.

'Thanks, Mrs. Kent. You're the greatest.' A wide smile spread over Chloe's lips.

Martha shook her head lightly and turning to her son pointed out:

'You two should really get going.'

'Oh, right! Are you ready?' Chloe looked him up and down.

Clark nodded.

Picking up her bag Chloe practically pranced her way out of the house.

'Clark!' His mother called out. She couldn't hold the mischievousness from her voice when she said: 'Don't forget you have to buy presents for our extra guest.'

Clark's eyes grew large at that. What was he going to get her?

'Clark!' She called for the third time.

'Ah?'

'What's wrong with you today? You're extra-spacey.' She noted as they continued to walk in the mall.

'Hmm… Nothing. Just trying to figure out what I'm going to get Jimmy.' He lied.

'Oh, you can get him anything silly gadget and he'll be thrilled.' She assured him.

They walked, staring at the various windows, scanning them for potential presents.

'So… I already bought your present.'

He tried to find a way to squeeze Lois' name into the conversation.

'And I have bought yours but I'm not telling.' Chloe quickly replied.

'What are you talking about? You're the one that won't give up until you figure out what everyone's getting you.' He argued with a grin.

He still remembered the terror it had been last Christmas. She just wouldn't let go.

'Well, for your information, Clark Kent, I've changed.' She said with mock haughtiness. 'I don't want to know. I happen to like surprises.'

'Right, I'd like to see that.' He gibed with a smile.

'You'll see. I won't ask.' She assured him.

'That doesn't mean you won't try to find out.'

'I've changed I tell you.' She insisted. 'Lois bought me my gift three days ago and I have no idea what it is.'

'Do you know where she has it?'

'No…' There was a hint of sulkiness in her voice.

'You searched her entire apartment and you didn't find it, did you?' He taunted.

After a moment of pause she relented:

'Not the entire apartment…'

Clark laughed at that.

They continued to window-shop for a couple of minutes before he spoke again:

'About Lois…'

It had to be. By the way things were going Chloe was never going to mention Lois' name on her own.

He had to very careful. Chloe an expert when it came to sniffing out any change in his reactions and he couldn't afford raising any suspicion on his feelings for a certain feisty brunette.

'What about Lois?' She asked casually as she scanned the shop they had just entered.

'I haven't gotten her anything and…'

'You're stuck?'

'Pretty much.' He admitted.

'Well, I don't blame you. It's really hard to shop for Lois. She's very picky.' Chloe explained.

Picking up a book she asked:

'What about this?'

He read the title: _The taste of country cooking_.

A cookbook? She wanted him to give Lois a cookbook? Did he look suicidal?

'I think she would hit me over the head with that, if I gave it to her.' He answered sincerely.

Chloe frowned confused.

'What? No, I meant what do you think about me getting this for your mom?'

'Oh!' That made much more sense. 'Yeah. She'd probably like it.'

'Probably?' Chloe detected the hesitation in his voice and put the book back on the shelf. 'Probably is not good enough.'

She walked along and Clark trailed behind.

'So…' He tried again. 'About Lois' present…'

'You're on your own on that one. It already took me forever to figure out what to get her.'

'What did you get her?'

'I'm not telling.' She quickly informed him.

'Why not?'

'Cause knowing you, you might copy it.'

'Oh, come on I would never do that.' He replied defensively.

'I don't care. I'm not telling.' She repeated walking into another shop.

Five hours later, with a truck filled with presents and aching feet they were in the car and making their way back to Smallville.

Turning off the engine he exited the car taking out the three large shopping bags from the back and carrying them up to Chloe's apartment.

He watched as she plopped down on the couch and let out a content sigh:

'Done. No more Christmas shopping!'

The sound of Clark clearing his throat made her opened her eyes. He stood in the middle of her living room with bags overflowing from both arms.

'Where do you want me to put these?'

'Oh, I'm sorry! You can put them in my bedroom.' She said letting herself remain sprawled on the couch.

A loud thud forced her to open her eyes again.

'Is everything ok?'

She heard him mumbled something from the bedroom.

'Not everyone has super-hearing, you know?' She grumbled as she strained to get back on her ailing feet.

When she got to her room it was a mess; bags and presents were scattered everywhere.

Clark was busy trying to get everything on the bed.

'Sorry, I tripped on the boxes.'

'No, I'm the one who should be apologizing I've been doing some Christmas cleaning and I forgot to put those away.' She pointed at the fallen cases on the floor as she helped him with the presents.

One of the cartons, the one Clark had stumbled over, was turned on the side and its contents were spilling out. They were mostly old pictures.

When he was done putting the presents on the bed he crouched down and began retrieving the photos.

In the middle of the multitude of images one seemed to stand out.

He didn't know why but he picked it up, drawn to it somehow. In the aged black and white photo you could see a beautiful woman sitting on a field, a loving smile on her face. He suspected that the cause of that smile was the object of her attention - the pigtailed girl sitting on her lap. The child grinned broadly at the camera, proudly showing off the missing front tooth.

'Who's that?' He asked. 'Is that you?'

Chloe came to squat next to him. She smiled when she recognised the couple depicted in the old photo.

'No. That's Lois and her mom.' She explained. 'I don't know how that got there.'

He stared at it, the resemblances slowly revealing themselves in his mind. The high cheekbones were hidden behind chubby baby fat, but he could see them trying to peak out. The coiled threads framing her face seemed to be a darker shade but he instantly recognized the high brow, the strength and confidence in her gaze and, of course, the mischievous grin. It was Lois, definitely.

'Clark?'

Chloe's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

'Sorry… Hmm… can I have this?'

Chloe frowned.

'Why do you want a picture of Lois and her mom?'

'I-I just want to borrow it. Can I?'

'Sure.' Chloe agreed, still a bit suspicious as she picked up the box and put it away.

'Could you give me Jimmy's number?'

This was getting stranger by the minute.

'Sure…' She repeated taking out her cell phone.

** Chapter 8**

He discarded the shirt over his shoulder. It was the third one.

Sighing he looked at his closet. She was right - all he ever wore was flannel. He had to get something else. The only thing left that wasn't flannel was his light blue shirt. The one he always wore.

Reluctantly he picked it up. As he was slipping it on there was a light knock on the door.

'Yes?'

The door opened to reveal his mother. She frowned when she saw the mess on the bed.

'I'll get that, don't worry.'

'It's ok.' She gave him a warm smile trying to hide the sadness in her eyes.

It was the first Christmas without him. She was sure it would be hard on Clark. Walking into the room she closed the distance between them and looked at her son.

'You look nice.'

'Thanks, mom.' He replied with a weak smile as he wrapped his arms around her.

'Merry Christmas, son.'

'Merry Christmas.'

They held the embrace finding comfort in each other's warmth.

'We better go. Our guests should be here any minute.' Martha finally spoke, letting go of him.

Even though she tried to push them back, he could see the tears in her glassy stare threatening to overflow.

He didn't say anything. There was no need to.

Wordlessly he followed his mother as they made their way downstairs.

His heartbeat seemed to pick up speed at every step he took. When they reached the bottom of the staircase Shelby was promptly there wagging his tail to greet them.

Clark sat at the table and watched as his mother checked the food in the oven. Shelby quickly came to lie at his feet.

'Don't come crying to me just because she left you.' Clark spoke, nervously tapping his foot on the floor.

As if it had understood, the dog let out a high-pitched whimper from his spot on the floor.

For the fourth time in five minutes he looked at his watch. He needed to keep himself busy or he was going to go insane.

'Do you need some help, mom?'

'You could take these appetizers to the table.' Martha signalled the cups that were placed on the counter.

He stood up and did as she had asked.

'Anything else?'

His mother looked around trying to find if there was something left to do.

'I don't think so. The table is set, right?'

He nodded. God, his palms were sweating! This was worse than his first day as a freshman in high school.

The doorbell rang and he felt his stomach spasm.

'_Much wors__e.'_

Inhaling he walked over to the front door. Through the curtains he could see Chloe's outline.

'Merry Christmas!' She greeted toothily, wrapping her arms around him for a tight hug.

'Merry Christmas.' He greeted back.

Letting go of his friend he turned his attention to the two men standing at his doorstep.

He couldn't help but frown when he noticed someone was missing.

'Merry Christmas, Mr. Sullivan.' He said a little distracted. 'Merry Christmas, Jimmy. Here, let me help you with that.' Clark offered when he noticed just how many presents they carried. 'We'll just put those by the Christmas tree.'

'Mrs. Kent, this is Jimmy. Jimmy, meet Martha Kent.'

The two exchanged warm greetings while Chloe stood by and watched.

'You have a lovely house here, Mrs. Kent.'

'Thank you. Gabe, Merry Christmas.'

Clark watched from a distance, his gaze darting to the front door.

Where was she? Was she not coming? Why wasn't his mother asking about her?

'The house looks great, Mrs. Kent! Wow! You really went all out with the mistletoe, didn't you?' Chloe exclaimed when she noticed the small clusters of the green plant scattered around on the ceiling.

Thankfully everyone was too busy taking in the decoration to notice the hint of red spreading over Clark's cheeks.

'How did you get that one all the way up there?' Jimmy asked pointing at a piece of mistletoe that was in one of the highest slabs.

Martha was at a loss for words.

'It was an accident. I-I threw it and it got stuck.' Clark stuttered out the lie earning a frown from Chloe.

What was he up to?

'So, just make yourselves comfortable and…' Martha trailed off when she noticed someone was missing. 'Chloe?'

'Yes, Mrs. Kent?'

'Where's Lois?'

_ 'Finally someone notices.'_

'Oh, she took her car. There were just too many gifts to get all four of us here in one car.'

'Ok.' Martha smiled. 'Does anyone want anything to drink? We have alcohol free eggnog!'

'Sound great.' Gabe beamed from his stop on the couch.

'I'd like that.' Jimmy replied.

'Here, I'll help you with that order, Mrs. Kent.' Chloe offered walking back to the kitchen with the older woman.

Taking a seat next to Jimmy Clark spoke:

'Hey, thanks again for helping me with…'

'No problem. It turned out great didn't it?' Jimmy couldn't help but grin with pride.

'It's perfect.'

His attention was diverted when his ears picked up the sound of an approaching engine. Within two minutes there was a light honk.

'Oh, that must be Lois.' Chloe shouted from the kitchen.

Clark was off the couch and in the kitchen in record time.

'She said she'd honk for me to go help her with the presents.'

There was another honk.

'I'll go!' Clark called back, his hand already on the front door handle.

He walked out to find the car parked, the trunk was open and Lois' head was hidden under it.

'What took you so long, Chloe?' She grumbled when she heard footsteps. 'I'm freezing out here! How can people live in this cold? It's ridiculous!' She continued to ramble on as she dug for the gifts that had spilled from the bags and were now scattered in the trunk of her car. 'Here, just get-'

She stopped in mid sentence when she finally stood up straight and looked up to find Clark towering over her.

'Oh! It's you!'

She felt her breath hitch in her throat. Why did that always have to happen when she saw him?

'Hey, Lois…' He uttered, his gaze fixed on her.

After a few seconds, Lois snapped her gaze away from his and focussed on the presents.

'Hmm… You'll have to do, I guess. Take these…' She began handing him a series of gifts avoiding eye contact. '… and… What?' She asked when he failed to reach for the presents.

He couldn't believe he was actually doing this. Before she knew it she was trapped between his arms.

'Merry Christmas, Lois.' She could feel his breath on her ear.

She was too shocked at first to do anything. Her arms awkwardly suspended in midair, one present in each hand. Her heart pounded erratically in her chest when she finally let herself respond, curling her arms around his broad shoulders.

'Merry Christmas, Clark.' She whispered back.

He didn't want to let go, this felt…

'What's taking you guys so...'

The two clumsily scrambled apart.

'… long?' Jimmy awkwardly finished the sentence.

The tension in the air was palpable. The two stood there, Lois strangely holding onto the two presents while both bounced their gazes off of every surface in an attempt to avoid Jimmy and each other.

'You're mom thought you guys might need some help.' Jimmy tried to put an end to the uncomfortable silence.

Nervously, she blew her bangs away from her eyes.

'Good!' Lois sprang into action picking up a bunch of boxes and aggressively piling them on an unsuspecting Jimmy. 'You can take this… and this… and these… and these…'

'Hmm… Lois?' Jimmy tensely observed from behind the mountain of brightly wrapped gifts he could barely hold. 'It would be nice if I could actually see on my way back…'

'You're done. Go!' She commanded.

Gracelessly, Jimmy stumbled his way back; thankfully Chloe was waiting for him at the door.

Looking up she met Clark's gaze. He had that look on his face.

'_I hate that look._' She lied to herself.

Before he could say anything she began stacking things on him as well.

Mutely, the two walked back to the house.


	5. Chapter 5

** Chapter 9**

The moment she stepped through the threshold Shelby was tangling himself around her legs.

'Shelby, no!' Lois heard Chloe yell just before she tripped and staggered backwards.

One minute all she could see was the ceiling and gifts flying through the air and the next two large, concerned green eyes were staring down at her.

'Are you ok?' He asked.

She gulped as she became aware of their position. He hovered over her, his arms protectively holding her a few inches from the floor while her fingers clutched at his shirt.

'Lois, are you ok?' Chloe worriedly came up to them.

Uncomfortably, Lois loosened her grip on him, their gazes finally unlocking as she quickly scrambled to her feet.

His hand still rested on her arm.

'I-I'm fine.' She stuttered as she ineptly straightened her sweater in an attempt to break their contact.

When it didn't work she shrugged off her coat and hastily handed it to Clark. It caught him off guard, but after a few seconds he was walking over to the coat-hanger. Lois' attention turned to the dog gleefully wagging his tail at her.

'First you disappear then you try to kill me?'

She leaned down and began picking up the gifts. He heart jumped when she felt him at her side, helping her.

'I hope none of these were break- Ahchoo!' The powerful sneeze prevented her from finishing her sentence.

'Great!' She mumbled seizing the opportunity to come around the couch and put some distance between herself and Clark.

'Honey, are you ok?' Martha asked.

'I'm fine, Mrs. Kent.' She sneezed again. With a stuffy nose she muttered: 'Merry Christmas!' as she hugged the older woman.

'Merry Christmas to you too! Would you like some eggnog?'

'I'd love some.' She replied.

Looking at the dog that insisted on following her around she questioned:

'Where was he the last time I was...' She halted waiting for the sneeze that never came '…here?' she finished.

'Our neighbours got a new dog and she was in heat last month.' Martha explained coming out of the kitchen with a glass and handing it to Lois. 'We tried everything but he just kept running off.'

'Well, maybe you should think about having him neutered.' Chloe proposed.

'We're not neutering Shelby!' Clark promptly intervened in the conversation from the other side of the room.

'Why not? If it's such a hassle and he's-'

Lois' argument was cut short by Clark:

'He's not getting neutered!'

'But it's the-' Chloe wasn't able to finish either as Clark exclaimed:

'I'm not having my dog neutered! End of discussion!'

'You do realise we are talking about the dog, right?' Lois taunted, earning an annoyed tight smile from Clark.

'Someone's touchy…' She trailed off raising her eyebrow at him.

'Well, since every one's here I guess we could eat.' Martha stepped in.

'Good idea.' Mr. Sullivan spoke standing up.

One by one they took their seats at the table, Clark on one end, his mother on the other, Chloe and Jimmy on one side and Lois and her uncle on the other.

'Could you pass the vegetables?' Clark asked.

Reaching for the bowl Lois handed it to him; the butterflies that seemed to be now permanent residents in her stomach went on overdrive when his hand brushed against hers.

She tried to ignore the feeling and kept her eyes on her plate.

She was uncharacteristically silent during most of the meal and it didn't go unnoticed.

'Lois, are you ok?' Chloe, who was sitting in front of her, asked.

'I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?' She questioned stuffing her mouth with a piece of potato.

'It's just that you're kinda quiet tonight.' Her cousin noted.

Lois' lightly jolted up in her seat when his leg brushed against hers under the table.

'And jumpy!' Chloe added.

Why did she have to sit so close to him? And why was he constantly staring at her? It was unnerving!

'I'm fine.' Lois repeated shovelled more food into her mouth effectively putting an end to the conversation.

When dinner was over Chloe and Lois offered to help wash the dishes but Mrs. Kent wouldn't hear of it.

'It's Christmas Eve. There will be plenty of time to do the dishes tomorrow.' She said escorting them to the living room.

Seeing him sitting at the couch, Lois took her seat on the armchair farthest from him. For the first time she noticed the excessive amount of mistletoe scattered about.

'You really went overboard with the mistletoe this year, didn't you Mrs. Kent?' She commented looking up at the ceiling and failing to see the hint of colour creeping into Clark's cheeks.

Not knowing how to reply to that without getting her son into an embarrassing situation Martha opted for simple smile.

'Wow, a record player! I haven't seen one of these since the eighties!'

Jimmy's observation caused everyone to turn to find him standing by the device. Crouching down he busied himself by going through the small collection of vinyl albums he found on the shelf beneath it.

'Oh, God we haven't used that in centuries. I don't even know if it works.' Martha remarked coming to stand next to him while he continued to inspect various albums covers.

'Odessa?' He cocked an eyebrow up at Mrs. Kent who couldn't help but blush.

'I didn't know you were a Bee Gee's fan, Mrs. Kent.' Lois grinned coming to join them.

'Oh, that was such a long time ago and this was way before the _Staying Alive_ years.' Martha tried to defend herself holding the album in her hands.

It brought back memories.

'I wonder what else we are going to find there.' Chloe joined the group, squatting down next to her boyfriend.

Lois didn't have to turn to know that _he_ was now standing right behind her – her racing heartbeat was proof enough.

'Oh, that one!' Chloe stopped Jimmy.

'What? Not…' He wasn't able to finish his objection as the album was swiftly snatched from his hands.

Chloe grinned wildly as she let the needle rest on the vinyl surface and waited.

The scratchy sound of a piano filled the living room.

'Come on…' Chloe smirked dragging her boyfriend to his feet and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Soon after Billy Holiday's unmistakable soulful voice joined in.

_ I'll be seeing you_

'Would you care to dance?' Gabe asked taking Martha's hand in his.

_ In all the old familiar places_

'I'd love to.' She bashfully accepted.

_ That this heart of mine embraces  
All day through._

Lois froze when she realised just what was happening. Before Clark could utter a word she blurted:

'I don't dance.'

'I don't either.' He quickly replied shoving his hands into his pockets and the two awkwardly stood by.

_ In that small cafe;_

'Oh, come on Lois! Don't be a party pooper.' Chloe protested as she swayed to the music.

_ The park across the way_

'I'm not a party pooper!' Lois denied crossing her arms over her chest. 'I don't dance.'

_ The children's carousel;_

'Yes, you do!' Chloe countered.

_ The chestnut trees;_

'I don't.' Lois stated with a tight jaw, dangerously raising her eyebrows at her.

_ The wishin' well._

'Come on, Lois. It's just a dance.'

Great! Now Mrs. Kent was joining in.

_ I'll be seeing you_

'Mom, don't…' Clark tried to intervene but his mother seemed intent on having the two dance.

_ In every lovely summer's day;_

'Lois, why don't you dance?'

'Fine!' She practically growled turning to face Clark and stiffly putting her arms around his neck.

_ In every thing that's light and gay._

_ 'Just keep breathing! Breathe!'_ Was the mantra in her brain as she felt his hands on the small of her back.

_ I'll always think of you that way._

They slowly began to sway to the sluggish beat.

_ I'll find you_

They clumsily stumbled as her foot pressed over his.

_ In the morning sun  
And when the night is new._

Neither said anything the next two times it happened but by the third:

'Lois…'

_ I'll be looking at the moon,  
But I'll be seeing you._

She stopped and looked up:

'What? I told you, I don't dance.'

_ I'll be seeing you  
In every lovely summer's day;_

Before she could squeeze herself out of his grasp she felt herself being lifted off the floor. She gulped as he held her tightly against his chest, bringing her eyes to the same level as his, her feet suspended inches off the floor while he leisurely moved them around in small, hypnotizing circles.

_ In every thing that's light and gay._

Unconsciously, her fingers travelled up the back of his neck and threaded themselves into his hair.

_ I'll always think of you that way._

He could hear and feel her heart pounding against his chest, its frantic rhythm matching his as they kept their gazes locked, their faces mere inches from one another.

_ I'll find you  
In the morning sun_

_ 'This is not good.'_ Her mind warned her, but her body seemed to disagree with the statement. Right now, it felt pretty good.

_ And when the night is new._

Why did he have to look at her like she was the only one in the room?

_ I'll be looking at the moon,_

Why did that make it impossible for her to control her breathing?

_ But I'll be seeing you_.

Her eyes drifted from his eyes to his mouth.

Why was it that suddenly all she could think about was kissing him? Why… Why did they stop moving?

She was snapped back to reality when her feet touched the floor.

_ 'Oh right! The song's over!'_ Her mind informed her.

She quickly dropped her gaze. Clark promptly mimicked her when she readily pulled away. She proceeded to look busy by hastily adjusting her clothes while desperately tried to find a distraction of his own.

Soon the next song soared in the room.

_ 'No more dancing for me.'_ She immediately decided crossing the room and taking her place on the armchair making sure she was at a safe distance from him.

** Chapter 10**

She let out a powerful laugh at Jimmy's last remark.

Since the first time she'd met him she had decided she liked him and that he was perfect for her cousin.

'Anyway… after that sad spectacle I don't expect any family gatherings in the near future.' He finished taking rubbing the back of his neck.

'What's so funny?'

Lois turned to find her cousin standing behind her.

'Jimmy was just telling me about his Thanksgiving.' Lois' eyebrows rose high on her forehead as she added: 'And I thought we had family issues.'

'Ah, yes! The growingly notorious Olsen Thanksgiving debacle!' Chloe smiled wrapping an arm around her boyfriend's waist.

'With my family I'm just glad I have you to keep me sane.' Jimmy grinned back as he leaned in to give her a kiss.

Feeling uncomfortable Lois speedily announced with a roll of her eyes.

'And that's my queue to leave…'

Before Chloe could protest, Lois was already making her way over to the kitchen for an eggnog refill. Even though it was alcohol-free, it was actually pretty good.

She came to an abrupt halt when she saw him standing by the sink, his back to her. Her intent was to turn on her heels and leave before he noticed her but then he had to turn around and it was too late.

_ 'Guess we'll go with plan B – act natural.'_

She entered the space with as much poise as possible.

_ 'You're completely relaxed. You are not nervous. He does not make you nervous. The trick is to breathe. You can breathe, right? Been doing it since you were born. Should be a piece of cake. Relaxed, breathe in, breathe out. You are calm and serene.' _She frowned when she realised:_ 'Great! Now I sound like a sleazy hypnotist.'_

'Is everything ok?' He asked looking over his shoulder and seeing her crease her brow as he continued to wash the dishes.

'What?' She jolted out of her thoughts.

Noting that she was frowning she lied:

'Oh, no! I was just thinking about something I have to do for work… Later.'

She sucked at lying and for some strange reason she was even worse at it when it came to him.

Walking over to the counter on the opposite end of the room she began to refill her glass.

'You really are a boy scout, you know that?' She mocked.

At his puzzled expression she added:

'Your mom said she'd do that tomorrow.' She tilted her head signalling the drying plates.

'Oh, I know but I didn't want her to have to do the dishes on Christmas morning.'

She simply stared at him.

'What?' He questioned feeling his cheeks start to burn.

'You're genuinely that sweet, aren't you?'

'So we've gone from boy scout to sweet? In under a minute?' The smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he dried his hands on a nearby towel and turned to face her. 'That's an improvement, right?'

'There's always room for improvement, Smallville…' She mischievously cocked her eyebrow at him taking a sip of her eggnog.

It was only when she noticed the blush creeping up in Clark's cheeks that she realised:

_ 'Oh my God! I'm flirting with Smallville!'_

Maybe there was something in the eggnog after all. She suspiciously eyed the drink she held in her hands. She was so busy scrutinizing the contents of her glass she forgot to keep an eye out for him and when she looked up he had successfully crossed the kitchen without her noticing and was now standing in front of her.

Instinctively, she backed up against the counter.

His heart was racing at the thought of what he was about to do. Wordlessly, with his hands in his pockets he took a step, invading her personal space.

Her heart jumped to her throat. What was he doing?

'Wha-what are you doing?'

Damn! Why did she have to stutter?

When he didn't say anything she forced out a laugh:

'What?'

'How big are you on tradition?' He inquired, the tight knot in his throat making it hard to speak.

'Depends on the tradition.' She replied giving him a wary frown.

'Eggnog?'

Holding up her cup:

'Pro. Alcoholic preferred, but I can do with alcohol-free. Even though I'm starting to have my doubts about this one.'

'Christmas tree?'

'Pro. Not the actual buying of the tree, especially not when it's 100 degrees below zero out there, but I have to admit it looks… festive.'

She waited for the next question.

'Candy cane?'

She puffed at that:

'It's sugar shaped like a cane, how can I be against it?'

'Santa?'

She rolled her eyes. Of course she was in favour of Santa Claus.

'Present. Entirely pro.'

Was he going to ask her anything that wasn't clearly a good thing?

The pounding of in his chest double as he finally got to the point:

'Mistletoe?'

Her eyes widened and she immediately she looked up. Sure enough there was one a small branch of it stuck to the slab on the ceiling, directly above them.

'The kitchen?!' She asked incredulous. 'Who puts mistletoe in the kitchen?' She protested.

Her breath caught in her throat when she realised just how close he was. How had he done that without her noticing?

'We do.' He replied trying to ignore the violent cramping in his stomach.

'Oh, no!' She vehemently shook her head at him.

'Why not?' It came out as a whisper.

She couldn't believe he was asking her that. Wasn't it obvious?

'I don't kiss men who wear plaided flannel.' She blurted.

It was the first thing that came to mind and she realised it was a lousy excuse.

Clark could remember a couple of incidents that directly contradicted her statement but instead of bringing them up he pointed out:

'I'm not wearing plaid or flannel.'

'Yeah, well… not now.' She tried to buy time as her mind hysterically searched for an excuse. 'But considering the track record you're permanently labelled as flannel-boy in my mind.'

She gasped when he leaned in, but didn't make a move to leave.

'It's tradition…' He breathed.

'I don't like that tradition…' She mumbled.

Her neck was craned up, her mind a complete haze as he set both hands on the counter, one on either side of her, effectively trapping her.

He didn't know were he'd gotten so much courage but he managed to word out:

'Why not?'

His mouth lingered a few inches from hers.

She gulped when his gaze abandoned her lips to look directly into her eyes.

'Clark!'

At the shout coming from the living room the two frantically scrambled apart.

He loved his mother but she was killing him.

'Damn!' Lois swore, when the hasty movement caused her to spill part of her eggnog on her jeans and onto the floor.

Lois stomped her way to the sink turning on the water. Clark was at her side, wetting a towel and leaning in to help her, but she quickly snatched the cloth from his hands:

'I-I can do that. You-you go take care of the floor.' She shushed him away burying her stare in the stain in front of her, unable to meet his gaze.

If it wasn't for Mrs. Kent she would have let him kiss her.

_ 'What is wrong with you?'_

'Honey, it's past midnight.' Mrs. Kent announced as she entered the kitchen. 'What happened?'

'Nothing. I was just startled and I spilled some eggnog.' Lois explained.

The way she was violently rubbing the towel into her denim added to the flushed and guilty look on both her and Clark's face, Mrs. Kent decided it was best not to ask anymore questions.

'Here, let me help you with that.' She offered crossing the kitchen while Clark sluggishly brought out the mop and cleaned the tiled floor.

It was nearly impossible to pry the towel from Lois' grip, but Martha managed to do it. As she worked her magic on the stain, the young brunette kept her eyes glued on the floor.

'There, see? All gone.' Martha announced. 'I guess now we can go back to the living room and open our presents?'

'Good idea.' Lois agreed scurrying out of the room without so much as a glance in Clark's direction.

Putting back the mop in its place, he dragged himself out of the empty kitchen with slumped shoulders.

It was present time.


	6. Chapter 6

** Chapter 11**

_ 'I should've gotten something else.'_ She thought for the umpteenth time as she opened yet another present.

'Thanks, uncle Gabe.' She said with a smile looking at the book cover.

It seemed interesting enough.

'Do you like it?' He asked with some apprehension.

He knew just how picky his niece could be when it came to presents.

'I'm sure I'll love it.' She leaned in and gave him a quick peak on the cheek trying to ignore the fact that brain insisted on reminding her that she'd given everyone their gift except him.

She glanced in his direction. He stood by the couch on the other side of the room, alone, looking at the CD Jimmy had given him.

This was it! She inhaled deeply, her grip on her last package tightening as she crossed the room.

God, her heart was racing!

_ 'Maybe I'll do this later.'_ She began to back peddle, faltering in her stride. _'Later is good!'_ She convinced herself._ 'Later it is!'_ She decided turning on her heels only to find Mrs. Kent standing in her path, blocking her hasty retreat.

'Mrs. Kent!' Lois let out the breath she had been holding for the past minute.

Martha looked up and smiled gently. Lois found herself relaxing in its warmth.

'I really liked the scarf.' She finally said fingering the piece of fabric she held.

'Really? Cause I wasn't sure you'd like it.' Lois blurted nervously.

'I loved it.' Martha made her point clear by taking the delicate cloth and wrapping it around neck. 'You really know how to pick gifts.'

'Yeah? I'm not to sure about that...' She muttered rolling her eyes and digging her fingers further into the wrapping she held.

Mrs. Kent leaned in and with a knowing smirk whispered:

'I'm sure that he's going to love whatever you've picked out for him.'

And with that she turned around to join Mr. Sullivan leaving a baffled Lois behind.

What did she mean? What did-

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the light touch of a hand on her shoulder. She didn't have to turn around to know who it belonged to. Helplessly trying to ignore the butterflies raging in her stomach she turned to meet his gaze.

'Hey...'

'Hey...'

The two stood in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, the very recent memory of what had almost happened in the kitchen lingering around them.

Abruptly Lois outstretched her arm, handing him the crumpled package.

'Here you go! Merry Christmas!'

He was caught a bit off guard by the sudden movement, but accepted the present.

'Thanks.'

Lois felt her heart pounding in anticipation as he sluggishly pealed the duck tape, careful not to damage the wrapping paper.

'I'm not sure if you're going to like it... but I felt this intense need to intervene. I mean, you went to college and still your fashion sense seems to be limited to the flannel section at Wal-Mart.'

She watched as he continued to slowly unpack the gift. It was killing her.

'You are in desperate need of a make over and I-'

That was it!

'What are you doing?' She inquired; the annoyance evident in her voice.

'I'm trying not to ruin the paper.' He explained giving her an innocent look.

'Why?' She asked with a perplexed frown.

'Because it's nice and-'

'Oh, just give me that!'

She snatched the gift from his hands and in the same move ripped the paper taking out the sweater inside and handing it to him.

'There you go.'

She tried to hold his gaze, but the way he was looking at her was making it really hard.

After a couple of seconds he finally broke eye contact to look down at her present taking it from her hands.

When he didn't say anything she felt the intense need to fill in the void.

'It's a turtleneck sweater…'

'I can see that…' He smiled.

She was nervous. God, she was adorable when she babbled. The fluttering in his stomach doubled at the thought that he was the cause of her babbling.

'…and it's blue. Cause you do look good in blue.' She continued. 'The guy at the store said it was navy blue, but I'm pretty sure it's midnight blue… or Prussian blue…'

_ 'Since when do I know so much about colours and why are you babbling, Lois?'_ She chastised herself.

'Anyway, if you don't like it, your can-'

'I love it!' He cut her off.

'Yeah, but if you don't you can-'

'I love it.' He insisted taking the sweater and easily slipping it on.

Her lips pressed together tightly as she gulped, causing the dimples in the corners of her lips to appear. He definitely looked good in blue.

_ 'Very good!'_

The high turtleneck emphasized his squared jaw.

'How do I look?'

'It's ok.' She said nonchalantly adding a shrug for good measure.

'Just ok?' He cocked an eyebrow at her.

'It's not plaided or flannel. It's not VH1 fashion award worthy but it's an improvement.'

'And there is always room for improvement, right?'

She felt her cheeks burn as the familiar line evoked the memory of their recent tryst in the kitchen. Instinctively she looked up.

_ 'Good. No mistletoe.' _ She tried to convince herself.

Looking back down their eyes met and once again the tension escalated. It was Clark's turn to break it noting:

'And you got the right size.'

Oh, she knew his size alright.

'Excuse me?'

Lois' eyes widened. Had she said that out loud?!

_ 'Oh my god!'_

'Hmm… nothing, it's nothing.' She mumbled fretfully. 'Anyway, I'm glad you liked it.'

She stuffed her hands in the her back pockets and tensely balanced herself on the heel of her shoes.

_ 'And the awkwardness continues…'_

'Well, I better…'

'Wait. I didn't give you your present.'

'Oh… right.'

She looked at his empty hands. She couldn't help but quip:

'Let me guess. Is it… oxygen?'

He rolled his eyes at her.

'It's upstairs, I didn't want Shelby to ruining it. I'll be right back.'

With a grin he jogged up the stairs.

He raced into his bedroom and picked up the package that was on his night table. He was beginning to have doubts about this one. What if she didn't like it?

Walking out into the hall the fear tugged at his heart. Lois was fussy about presents, what if-

'Out of the way, Smallville.'

Clark backed up against the wall as Lois and a greenish looking Chloe rushed past him and into the bathroom. Before he could say anything the door was slammed in his face.

'Is everything ok in there?' He asked concerned.

There was no answer beyond the foul sound of someone retching.

'Lois?'

Nothing.

'Chloe?'

He was about to knock when the door was flung open. From over Lois' shoulder he could see Chloe bent over the toilet.

'She had a little too much cranberry cream pie. Add in the gallon of eggnog she gobbled down and I think the heaving sound coming from behind me right now is self-explanatory, don't you think?' She wrinkled her nose at him.

'Chloe… are you ok?'

He asked from the threshold.

'Oh, I'm just…' She held up her hand as she felt another wave of nausea roll up her oesophagus.

She waited a few moments, swallowed hard and finished her sarcastic remark:

'I'm just fine and dandy!'

After a second she garbled out:

'This is all your fault…'

'My fault?' He asked innocently.

'You promised me you wouldn't let me eat so much again in my life.' She grumbled from her spot on the tiled floor, leaning her head against the toilet.

It was cold; it felt nice.

'Actually, that promise was related to ice-cream only…'

He trailed off when Chloe gave him a very familiar murderous glance; one he had grown used having received numerous ones from her cousin, but seldom from the small blond.

'Entirely my fault.' He quickly agreed. Turning to Lois he added: 'I'll just wait downstairs.'

'You do that.' She nodded before closing the door.

** Chapter 12**

'Maybe we should check on her.' Jimmy paced around in front of the staircase looking up.

'I'm sure she's going to be fine.' Martha tried to soothe him. 'She just ate a little too much.'

'A little?' Clark chuckled.

He quickly slumped down in his seat when Jimmy and his mother threw him a look. Thankfully, footsteps coming from the stairs were heard and the attention was diverted from his remark.

'Oh, Chloe are you alright?' Martha asked.

'Are you ok?' Jimmy whispered brushing her hair back as they walked into the living room.

'I'm fine… Still a little queasy… but I'll live.' She managed to say.

'Here, let's go into the kitchen and I'll give you some water.'

'Are you sure you don't want us to drive you to the hospital?' Her uncle questioned as he trailed after Jimmy and Chloe into the kitchen.

Lois was following closely behind when a hand around her arm stopped her.

'You think she'll be ok?' He asked letting go of her when she turned around to face him.

She had to stop herself from having any outward reaction to the chaos going on in her belly at the sight of him. She was starting to regret having bought him that sweater, he looked… She pushed back the intoxicating thoughts swimming around in her mind and assured him:

'She'll survive this one.'

'Well…' He scratched the back of his neck with one hand while handing her her present with the other. 'Merry Christmas, Lois…'

His palms were clammy and he was having a hard time controlling his breathing as it came in short erratic pants.

'Thanks…' She smiled up at him.

Just to tease him she mimicked his behaviour earlier that evening and took her time as she unwrapped her gift. She picked and prodded at the duck tape without actually getting it off.

'Such a nice wrapping paper.' She mischievously narrowed her eyes at him. 'We wouldn't want to ruin that, would we?'

He let out an exasperated sigh; a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

'You've made point. Just open it.'

'What?' She played coy and oblivious. 'Might come to some good use. You never know.'

He almost died when she impishly bit her lower lip.

The painful look on his face as his Adam's apple bombed up and down made her aware of what she was doing and she quickly dropped her attentions back to the present.

Without further ado she tore the paper and frowned; her heart sinking in disappointment when she identified the frame.

'You got me a frame?'

'Turn it around.' He said pressing his palms together.

What if she didn't like it?

She did as he asked and her heart stopped at the familiar faces smiling in the picture.

The black and white portrait was framed by a white passepartout which visibly enhance the different shades in the photograph and contrasted with the simple black frame.

'Mom?'

It was barely audible; the word seemed like it had squeezed its way through her closed throat.

Her fingers lingered on the image while his eyes were focused on her face, trying to read her expression.

He watched silently as tears began to well up, her eyes became glassy, her cheeks became flushed and her lips pressed together tightly.

She didn't like it, he figured as she continued to stare at the picture.

One single tear escaped the corner of her eye to trail down the side of her face.

'I'm so sorry I didn't…' He began restlessly.

'Where did you get this?' She finally spoke never taking her eyes off the frame.

'Chloe had it. It was pretty old and a bit wrinkled so I asked Jimmy if he could help and…' He paused, his heart aching for her. 'I thought you'd like to have it.'

He stared at her intently until she looked up and met his gaze.

Without a word her hand came up to his neck to pull him down as she craned up, on the tip of her toes and pushed her mouth against his. He froze, taken by complete surprise, his heart threatening to pound its way out of his chest.

Pulling back a bit and easing some of the pressure her lips lingered there for a few seconds, sluggishly brushing up against his once, twice as if beckoning him to reply.

He was about to respond but as abruptly as it had begun it was over.

With a foggy gawk he managed to see her large, glassy eyes staring back at him.

He vaguely remembered her whispering _'Sorry…'_ before she bolted up the stairs and left him there panting for breath; completely and utterly dumfounded.

She'd kissed him! He couldn't believe it! Lois Lane had kissed him!

'I'm ok...' Chloe assured everyone with a weak voice as she entered the living room, Jimmy, Martha and Uncle Gabe trailed close behind.

Clark's eyes darted between the ailing blonde and the staircase, struggling with his choice.

'Are you sure you don't want to rest for a bit?' Martha asked worried.

'No. Right now all I wanna do is go home and get some sleep.' She cringed when she felt another spasm in her stomach.

'Chloe, you can barely walk.' Clark finally spoke, his eyes lingering on the top of the stairs for a few seconds before turning to Chloe. 'Let alone drive.'

'I can drive. No problem.' Jimmy supplied as he joined Mr. Sullivan in gathering up the presents.

'I'm really sorry the evening had to end like this...' Martha uttered, running her hand over Chloe's head.

'It's ok, Mrs. Kent. It was a great evening, well... up until...' She trailed off trying not to call to mind the disturbing memory. 'But other than that it was the best Christmas Eve I've had in years.' She smiled weakly.

'Well, I think that's everything.' Uncle Gabe announced carrying three bags stuffed with presents. 'I put Lois' gifts in this one so she can... Where is Lois anyway?' He asked when he looked around and failed to find his eldest niece.

'She's upstairs. I'll get her.' Clark promptly offered.

He was half way up when a loud thud was heard coming from outside.

'What was that?' Mrs. Kent voiced out the question in everyone's mind.

'I don't know...' Clark replied coming back down. 'Did you let Shelby out?'

'No.'

'I'll go check it out.' He said walking over to the front door as he slipped on his jacket.

She almost had it, she was home safe and then she had to go and slip on the ice. She came plummeting down the roof to hit the snow covered ground with a loud thump.

'Ouch!' She grumbled, her hand coming up to the back of her head. 'Cramp!' She exclaimed when she remembered and quickly checked the frame she held in her left hand.

Using the faint light coming from one of the windows she was able to see it was unharmed.

She tried to move but froze when she felt a razor-sharp sting irradiate from her left ankle and assault her entire body.

_ 'This is can't be good...'_

Clenching her teeth she tried once more and again the paralysing pain made her breath catch in her throat.

'Cramp!' She repeated.

With a sigh she let her head drop back, but regretted it the moment her tender skull came into contact with the icy snow.

This was ridiculous. She had stooped to making daring escapes out of first floor windows just to avoid having to come down the stairs and face him. What the _hell_ had she been thinking?! Even if it had worked, what was she going to say to her cousin and her uncle? She'd just decided to up and leave in the middle of Christmas Eve celebrations without telling anyone? She definitely hadn't thought this whole thing through, she'd just been caught so off guard by what had happened...

The moment she had gotten to the hallway and had managed to catch her breath her brain asked the impertinent question: '_Now what? Eventually you're going to have to go back down and you just know Smallville is going to be there… waiting. That is if he doesn't come after you.'_

At that thought she'd immediately opened the first door she could find and hid inside. When she realised where she was she panicked. With her luck it was obvious her lousy instinct would lead her to the lion's den – his bedroom.

After that it had all been an unnerved haze; survival instinct kicking in making the escaping through the window a very appealing plan. It seemed perfect. She'd avoid him and could get home at the same time. Somehow she'd managed ignore the few _minor_ glitches in her dazzling plan – a) her purse was inside and inside it were the keys to her car, b) she was going to have to come up with a pretty elaborate excuse for her disappearance and… hmm… there was something else… oh yeah! There was the fact that she was laying flat on her back with most likely a broken ankle and a high chance of a concussion.

'Good because I haven't had one of those lately!' She scoffed in the dark.

_ 'What was I thinking?'_ She thought as she lay there in the chilly snow.

Opening the door he stepped outside into the frosty night.

He narrowed his eyes, squinting to make out the shadowy figure laying on the ground, flat on its back and staring up at the sky. Coming closer his eyes widened ad he was at her side in an instant:

'Lois! Oh my God! What are you doing here? Are you ok?' He shot out the series of questions as he knelt down next to her.

_ 'Of course who else would find her but him?!'_ She mentally rolled her eyes. She hated her luck.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 13**

'I'm fine.' She gnashed out propping herself on her elbows.

'What are you doing here?! How did you…?' He stopped in mid sentence when he looked up and saw the tracks in the snow that covered roof. 'You fell out of my bedroom window? What were you doing to fall out of the window? And what were you doing in my room?'

'Can we hold off on the 20 questions for a moment, Smallville?' She grumbled up at him as she tried to get up.

When he reached out to help her she swatted his hands away.

'I can do it!' She insisted.

He moved back and watched as she hissed and cursed all the way through a series of frustrated attempts at scrambling onto her feet. It would have actually been quite amusing if he wasn't so confused and worried about the way she was protecting her left ankle.

'Ok, maybe I need some help.' She reluctantly agreed outstretching her hand.

God, how humiliating!

She gasped when instead of reaching for her hand one arm slid under her knees the other around her back to effortlessly scoop her up in one fluid motion.

'_I guess that works too.'_

She could feel herself blushing as he mutely carried her back to the house.

'Honey, what was- Lois! What happened?' Martha asked stunned when she saw her son walk into the living room carrying a flushed Lois in his arms.

Without saying a word Clark placed her on the couch and let everyone huddle around her.

'Lois, what happened?' Chloe repeated Mrs. Kent's question coming to sit next to her cousin.

Everyone expectantly waited for an answer.

'I was- I-I…'

'Lois went outside for some air because of Shelby, tripped on the porch steps and fell.'

Her eyes widened at Clark's quick save. Everyone turned to look at him as he stood at the end of the couch, hands buried in the front pockets of his jeans.

His expression was unreadable and he didn't look at her. It unnerved her.

'I think she hurt her ankle.' He added.

'Let me see.' Martha reached, pulling up the edge of Lois' jeans.

The moment she began unzipping the boot, Lois hitched her breath.

She grinded her teeth together and closed her eyes tightly, enduring the agonizing pain as the leather slid off her foot to reveal a very swollen ankle.

'Clark get me some ice for this.' His mother asked.

He nodded and left.

'Can you move it?'

Lois shook her head. Man, it hurt like hell!

Clark was back, handing his mother the ice wrapped in a towel.

Lois hissed as the cold came into contact with her sore ankle.

'Well, we are going to have to get you to a hospital.' Martha said after accessing the inured joint.

'What? No, I'm fine. I bet in a few minutes the swelling will come down and-'

'We have to make sure you didn't break anything.' The older woman countered.

'But-'

'No, buts we are getting you to a hospital.' Mrs. Kent cut her off.

'I can take her.'

Lois' attention turned to Clark at his remark; his face was still completely devoid of any expression.

'I'll go with you.' Chloe intervened.

'Ten minutes ago you were three shades greener that the Chicago River on Saint Patrick's Day and puking your guts out hunched over a toilet. You're not going anywhere but home.' Lois said determined. Knowing her cousin she added with a raised eyebrow: 'Unless you wanna see the doctor about that...'

Somehow the prospect of spending Christmas Even being pried and prodded didn't seem very alluring.

'But I-'

'I'll call you as soon as the doctor gives me the thumbs up, ok?' Lois proposed.

Reluctantly the blonde nodded.

'Jimmy can you drive her home by yourself?' Mr. Sullivan asked.

'Sure, no problem.' Jimmy replied promptly.

'Uncle Gabe you don't have to come. Mrs. Kent can-'

Mr. Sullivan ignored his niece:

'Good. That's settled.'

'You can take Lois in her car.' Martha turned to her son.

'What?' Lois jerked up. 'No, I don't think-'

Once again she was promptly ignored.

'There is more leg room if you pull the front seat back. Gabe and I will take the truck.' Martha decided.

Before she could protest, everyone scattered around her, going about their business and she once again found herself being swept up by a mute Clark.

He took her over to where she had left her purse and her jacket.

She wordlessly picked them up, clutching them against her chest along with her mother's picture and the ice as he carried her to her car.

When they reached it she handed him the keys and to her amazement he easily opened the door without losing his grip on her, place her on the front seat, pulled it back and closed the door.

She gulped as he took his place behind the wheel. Something told her this was going to be a long ride.

They drove in chilling silence. It was driving her crazy.

'So are you going to tell me why you're giving me the silent treatment?' She blurted.

When he didn't reply and kept his eyes on the road she sighed:

'Smallville, come on-'

'What were you thinking?!'

There was a pause. She opened her mouth to speak but his sudden outburst stopped her:

'What? You just thought you'd sneak out of the house and drive off? Oh, wait you couldn't do that because you left the keys in your purse! In my house! What was the plan then? Just freeze outside until Chloe and your uncle were worried sick about you?'

And the floodgates were open, apparently. She'd never seen him like this. Usually he was so guarded about his emotions. It seemed something had snapped inside of him. She looked at him as he continued:

'Tell me. Just tell me what possessed you to think that going out the window was an option. I mean, you could've gotten seriously hurt, Lois. You fell off the roof!'

'Can I possibly get a word in or should I just let you rant on?'

She didn't expect his next move. Suddenly, he slammed on the brakes causing the car to come to a screeching halt. When she turned to face him he was looking back at her with an accusing expression:

'You'd rather jump out of a window than face me. How am I supposed to feel about that?'

She froze; his unusual candour and bluntness catching her off guard.

After the initial surprise she uttered:

'Technically I didn't jump. I slipped on the ice while trying...'

At the look on his face she decided it was best not to finish that thought.

After the next ten seconds ticked by in suffocating silence she spoke:

'I just knew that you were going to want to talk about...'

Her throat closed up at the memory.

'And why wouldn't I? You kissed-'

'See!' She quickly cut him off. 'This is what I didn't want!'

God, the car was getting smaller.

'You didn't want to talk about the-'

'No!'

'But you kissed-'

'Can you just stop saying that?!' She exclaimed exasperated.

'Saying what?!' He countered defensively.

'That we….' She trailed off.

'Kissed.' He finished her sentence.

She murderously widened her eyes at him.

'Lois, we kissed! You can't-'

'Yes, we can!' She guaranteed him. 'And we will.'

'So, we are just supposed to go on ignoring what happened?'

'It's not like you haven't done it before.'

His eyes grew wide at her statement.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

Her heart jumped to her throat; the space in the car just seemed to have shrunk to half its original size. She was going to start heaving. Thankfully her brain supplied the perfect answer at the last minute:

'You know. All the times you and Chloe kissed... I don't remember her telling me about any long dissertations after those.'

'Oh!'

Chloe had told her about those? As if she could read his mind she said:

'We're cousins. We tell each other everything.'

'Right…'

He stared at her and she had to hold her breath.

'So we'll just…' He began hesitantly, the disappointment clear in his voice. '…ignore the-'

She jumped in before he could say it again:

'Let's just chock it up to a freakish combination of seriously misdirected grief, poorly expressed gratitude and consumption of unwholesome amounts of questionable alcohol-free eggnog.'

She couldn't breathe, waiting as he stared at her for a couple of seconds.

She inhaled when, with slumped shoulders, he finally redirected his attention to the road, turning the key in the ignition.

The rest of the drive to the hospital was done in complete stillness.

**Chapter 14**

She tapped her nails on the metallic surface she sat on as she waited. It was Christmas Eve, what could be keeping the doctor so long? It wasn't as if the ER was overflowing.

She dared a sideways glance in Clark's direction. He sat on a chair near the door to the exam room.

They hadn't exchanged more that three sentences after their conversation in the car. Being in that confined space, alone with him in complete and utter silence was killing her. Oh, where were Mrs. Kent and Uncle Gabe? What was taking them so long? And where was the doctor?

'Where did that doctor go? One minute I'm getting my ankle x-rayed the next she's gone and I'm being wheeled off in here.'

Clark simply shrugged.

Granted he was never the greatest conversationalist but this was getting ridiculous.

'Are you ever going to talk to me again?' She let out an exasperated sigh.

'What? I don't have anything to say.' He said in his defence.

'Right…' She mumbled rolling her eyes at him.

They widened when the door opened and her doctor walked.

'Sorry it took so long but the radiology lab was a bit backed up.' The woman wearing a white coat informed.

Clark was up in an instant.

She opened the envelope she was carrying and took out the transparent layer.

'Well, we've got great news. The x-ray doesn't show any sign of a fracture, see?' She asked handing Lois the film.

'Hmm… Ok, if you say- Ouch!' She jerked up as the doctor began examining her injured foot.

Clark jolted to attention at her cry.

'A little warning would be nice.' She hissed in pain.

'Oh, I'm sorry.'

Clark stood by her side keeping a close eye on the doctor as she finished the physical examination.

'Judging from the stiffness and the moderate instability of the joint, you probably have a second degree ankle sprain.'

When Lois creased her eyebrows at her in confusion the doctor elaborated:

'It's nothing major. The key thing you should do is rest the injury; it reduces the pain and prevents further damage. You'll probably have to use crutches for sometime. But as soon as the pain will allow it you should try to bear part of your weight on the injured joint, ok?'

Both Lois and Clark nodded.

'Second thing is ice and compression. They'll also help with the pain, decrease swelling and encourage blood flow. And try to keep that leg elevated as much as possible.'

There was another synchronized nod from both of them.

A knock on the door caught their attention and the three turned to see Martha's head popping from behind the wooden frame.

'Mrs. Kent!' Lois sighed in relief.

'Hey.' She smiled and turning to the doctor she asked: 'I'm a friend and I'm here with her uncle... Can we...'

'Sure.'

'How is she?' Mr. Sullivan questioned stepping into the room after Martha.

'She's going to be fine. It was just a sprained ankle.' The doctor assured him before looking back at Lois she continued: 'I'll prescribe you an anti-inflammatory that will help with the pain and the swelling.'

She quickly jotted something down on her pad and handed Lois her prescription.

'Thanks.' Lois smiled weakly taking the piece of paper from her.

'Thank you, doctor.' Martha said shaking the woman's hand before she left.

'You're more than welcome. Happy Holidays.'

'Happy Holidays to you too, doctor.' Mr. Sullivan wished just as the she exited.

'How's Chloe?' Lois immediately inquired once the doctor had left.

'She's fine. Jimmy is with her at home.' Mr. Sullivan answered.

'Good. Well, I can't wait to get home and get some sleep. God, I'm tired!' She whined closing her eyes and letting out an exhausted breath.

'Don't worry, Lois. I've already made up Clark's bed.

Two set of stunned eyes instantly darted toward Martha at her statement.

'What?!' Clark and Lois asked in unison.

'Well, you have a sprained ankle. You can't stay at your apartment by yourself.' Mrs. Kent argued.

Clark swallowed dryly at that. His mother had to be kidding. How was he supposed to sleep under the same roof with her after what had happened? After everything.

'I can handle it. It's nothing.' Lois tried to counter nervously as she avoided glancing in Clark's direction. 'It's just a-'

'It's sprained ankle which you have to rest. You're staying at the farm with us. It's settled.' Martha tried to put an end the discussion.

'Mrs. Kent... I'm really thankful for the offer but I'm sure I can-'

'Honey, don't argue. It's the best choice.'

Oh, great now Uncle Gabe was pushing for it too! She was never going to win with these two.

Reluctantly, she accepted with slumped shoulders.

The wheelchair halted as they reached the snow covered pavement outside the medical centre.

Taking her crutches and with Uncle Gabe's help she managed to scramble onto an upright position.

'Ready?' Martha asked encouragingly.

'Ready.' Lois's reply was a lot less enthusiastic as she began to hobble her way through the parking lot, Mrs. Kent on one side, her uncle on the other and a mute Clark trailing behind.

When they reached his truck he opened the door for her. The three waited patiently as she clumsily pulled herself into the car, but not before tripping or bumping into something at least three times.

After the a long and demanding exertion she was finally in her seat, the long crutches tucked at her side and Clark sitting next to her.

'I'll see you two back at the farm after I drive Gabe home. Drive safe.' Martha informed before turning to leave.

'And I'll see you tomorrow.' Uncle Gabe kissed his niece's forehead and turned to follow Mrs. Kent to the car.

Without a word, Clark turned the key in the ignition and drove off.

The truck came to a halt at the Kent farm. Sliding off his seatbelt Clark exited the vehicle, coming around to open the door for her. He watched as she tactlessly juggled the crutches in one hand while trying to free herself from the seatbelt.

'Do you want some-'

'I can do it!' She huffed finally managing to get rid of the seatbelt.

She hesitated as she set the crutches on the snowy ground and slipped out of her seat. She hissed when she accidentally applied a little too much weight on her injured foot. Clark was at her side in a blink of an eye.

'I'm fine.' She assured him and with a high chin she began her proud shamble back to the house.

Clark simply shook his head and followed her.

Man, was she stubborn!

A frustrated growl escaped her when she was faced with the daunting task of dragging herself up the stairs.

_'Stupid stairs.'_

Maybe she could switch with Clark and she could take the couch. Somehow she didn't think Mrs. Kent would approve of that.

She glanced to her side to find Clark smugly leaning on the railing; his hands crossed over his chest a strange look on his face as he waited for her to make a move. With an overconfident flip of her hair she set the crutches on the first step and pushed herself up. She gave him a haughty smirk before she moved onto the next step.

_'This is not that hard.'_ She thought to herself as she continued.

And of course that would jinx it because the moment the idea passed through her mind she stumbled. Instinctively she flung herself and lashed onto the railing, crutches flying through the air as she was barely stop her downward tumbled.

From her awkward position she didn't even dare to look back at Clark. This was so embarrassing! She kept expecting to hear a mocking laugh or comment, but it never came. Instead, two strong arms came up from behind her to quickly hoist her up. For the umpteenth time that evening she found herself being held in his arms.

'I can-'

'I know, I know, you can do it yourself.' He nodded with a half smile as he climbed up the stairs and carried her into his room.

Gently he placed her on the freshly made bed before turning to his closet and fishing out a shirt.

'You can use this if you want. It's clean.'

His heart raced as he handed her the familiar shirt. Would she remember?

If she did she didn't have any reaction to it. Simply took it and thanked him.

'Tomorrow we can stop by your apartment to get you some clothes.' He explained running his hand through the back of his neck.

The image of Lois lying on his bed with his shirt in her hands was wreaking havoc in his mind, turning it into a melting pot of memories and wishful thinking.

He had to get out of there. Now!

'Ok. She nodded quickly running her tongue over her dry lips.

_'And maybe take a quick shower.'_

'Goodnight, Lois.'

'Night.'

The moment he closed the door she let out the breath she was holding, her eyes dropping to the fabric in her hands. On impulse, she raised it to her nose. The pictures flashing in front of her at the scent cause her heart to skip a beat.

How was she supposed to sleep now? Sighing she began taking off her clothes, her eyes fixed on the plaided fabric.

She frowned when she heard water running. Was he taking a shower at this hour?


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 15 **

'Hmm…' She mumbled as consciousness slowly crept its way in to disturb her slumber.

Grudgingly, she opened one eye and then, with some effort, managed to crack open the other one. She had barely slept a wink and all because of her ankle. Every time she moved her leg a hammering pain would throb up her limp to keep her awake.

Carefully, she sprawled her tired body across the mattress under the weighty bedcovers before burying her face on the pillow. A warm feeling spread from her belly as she inhaled deeply. Why did her body react that way every time? Why did her stomach have to contract frenetically, her heartbeat pick up its pace or her mind become so foggy? Just once couldn't her body remain unaffected by that scent?

She jolted up into a sitting position when she realised just where her impish hand had wandered off to.

'Ouch!' She cried out reaching for her ankle as its protest against her sudden movement reverberated through her entire body.

'What is it Clark?' Martha asked from the kitchen when she saw her son jump up to attention.

'Nothing...' He relaxed in his seat. 'Lois is up.'

'Good, just in time for breakfast.'

'I'm not really hungry; I think I'll go to the barn.'

He was out the door before she could say anything.

Twenty minutes later a light mumbling coming from the top of the stairs startled Martha. She looked up to see Lois struggling with her crutches.

'Oh, sweetheart! Let me help you with that.' She offered while scurrying up the steps.

'Thanks.' Lois smiled.

With some effort the two women managed to get Lois down to the dining room.

'You just sit here and I'll get you something to eat.'

Lois nodded and took her place at the table. After a couple of minutes Martha was back with the rest of the food and sat across from her.

'Your uncle and Chloe are coming by for a late lunch.' Martha explained.

'I know, I talked to Chloe on the phone.' Lois smile taking a small bite out of the cheese sandwich.

As they ate breakfast Lois drifting eye caught Mrs. Kent's attention.

'Clark wasn't too hungry so he went out to the barn.' She answered the unasked question.

'Oh, ok.' Lois tried to sound nonchalant as if she hadn't been dwelling on Smallville's whereabouts.

They continued to eat in silence until Martha's question broke it:

'Is everything ok? You've hardly touched your eggs.'

'I guess I'm just not that hungry either.' She uttered pushing away her full plate.

The reply passed Martha's lips before she could stop it:

'Are you sick, sweetheart?'

Lois smile weakly at that. This was highly unusual behaviour for Lois Lane.

When they were both finished Mrs. Kent picked up the dishes but not before instructing Lois to go lie down on the couch.

'And keep your leg up.' She shouted from the kitchen while the younger woman wobbled her way across the living room to plop down on the couch.

Lois blew away her bangs. She hated feeling like an invalid.

She was drifting between sleep and awareness when she felt a warm blanket being placed over her. She pried her eyes open to have Martha's warm smile greet her.

'I brought you some oatmeal cookies I made just in case you rethink the whole not being hungry thing.'

Lois smiled back as Martha set the plate on the coffee table and headed into the kitchen.

It wasn't long before Lois drifted back into sleep. After all she had to compensate for a restless night and the couch was pretty inviting.

She moaned in contentment as balmy fingers grazed her cheek and made their way up into her hair. That felt nice. Slowly a female voice filtered into her reverie causing her to furrow her brow. It mismatched the images playing across her mind.

'Lois…'

Ultimately she opened her eyes to find Chloe's face hovering over her.

'Are you ok?' Her cousin asked when she noticed the red quickly seeping into Lois' cheeks.

'I-I'm fine.' She stuttered pulling herself up into a sitting position.

'_Bad dream.'_ She mentally reprimanded herself.

'How are you feeling? Ankle still hurting?'

'Like hell!' She replied earning a scolding look from her uncle. 'Sorry, Uncle Gabe. How about you?'

'I'm perfect.' Chloe grinned wildly taking a bite out of one of Mrs. Kent oatmeal cookies.

'At least one of us ' She faltered in mid sentence as Clark walked into the room. '…is.'

She quickly averted her eyes from him.

'Well, I went by the Talon and picked up a few of your clothes, so you don't have worry about that.' Chloe explained getting off the couch and going over to Clark. 'Hey, there.' She smiled up at him.

'Hey.' He said back before outstretching his hand to the only other man in the room. 'Mr. Sullivan.'

'Clark.' Gabe replied shaking his hand.

'I'll just put your bag up in your room, ok?' Chloe said before jogging up the stairs.

Lois nodded burying her gaze in her lap while Clark ineptly shoved his hands into his front pockets as if he was trying to make himself scarce.

The tension between the two didn't go by unnoticed by Mr. Sullivan who quickly came up with an excuse to leave the room:

'I'll just go check on Martha. See how lunch is coming.'

And they were left alone. Awkwardly alone.

Even though she didn't look up all her other senses were attune to his movements as he came around the couch and sat on the armchair in front of her.

'How'd you sleep?' He finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

'Terribly.'

_'That makes two of us.' _He thought to himself.

The shower hadn't helped much.

'Does the leg still hurt?'

'What do you think?' She cocked an eyebrow at him.

Seconds of unbearable stillness seemed to loudly tick by as they sat there.

Eventually Chloe came down the stairs and put an end to their suffering.

'All done. Oh and here you go.'

'What's this?' Lois frowned accepting the envelopes Chloe had handed her.

'Your mail. I thought you'd want it.' Chloe replied offhandedly, sitting down on the arm rest of Clark seat.

Yesterday she had been so fretful over the prospect of coming over to the Kent farm she had forgotten to check her mail.

'Let's see... Bill. Bill.' She counted off as she flipped through the various envelopes. 'And... more bills. Thanks cuz, invoices always help get me into a festive mood.' Lois mocked as she continued to look through the pile. She stopped when she got to one that differed from the others.

She didn't recognize the penmanship and there was nothing other than her name and address on the envelope.

Intrigued she ripped it open to find a Holliday card inside. Flipping it open she read, her eyes growing wide at the signature on the bottom.

'A Holliday card? Who's it from?' Chloe inquired from her spot next to an equally curious Clark.

'No one.' Lois replied abruptly closing the card.

'Oh, come on. Whose is it? Uh... is it some secret admirer?' Chloe teased completely oblivious to the twitch in Clark's jaw as he clenched his teeth at her remark.

'It's no one.' Lois insisted. 'I think lunch is ready. We better-'

'Just tell us who it's from.' Chloe insisted.

'It's no one you know.' Lois mumbled shifting in her seat.

'Lois…' Chloe whined.

She wasn't going to let it go, as she?

'It's not important.'

'Then let me see the card.' Chloe dared with a grin.

'Fine.' Lois agreed dismissively handing her the card while her heart raced.

Flipping it open Chloe quickly read it while Lois tried not to look too expectant. After a few seconds of pondering she identified the maiden name from her research.

'Oh, how sweet of her!' Chloe smiled.

Her? So it wasn't a guy. That was good. Relief washed over Clark.

'Yeah. I guess. I don't know.' Lois tried to change the subject. 'I think Mrs. Kent might need some help-'

'See she wasn't that bad.' Chloe chastised. 'The way you talked about her you made her sound like a monster.'

'Yeah, yeah. She's great. Let's eat.' Lois eagerly tried to get up.

'A whale of a monster.' Chloe giggled at her own joke.

That was it. Curiosity got the best of him. Trying not to look too desperate he took the card from Chloe's hands and read it.

'_Dear Mrs. Lane, _

_Please accept my Happy Holiday wishes for you and your loved ones. _

_I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for everything you and Mr. Kent did for me. I'm in your debt, always._

_Betty Maurice' _

Clark frowned at the unfamiliar name. Who was this Betty and how did she know him?

'Betty do I know any Bettys?' He wondered.

Maybe the Mr. Kent she was referring to was his father.

He was so engulfed in his musings he failed to notice the anxiety in Lois' eyes as he finished reading the card.

Boy, was he slow.

'_Thank God! Maybe he won't-' _

'Every time I think about Betty all I can picture is this huge, giant woman sitting on top of Lois. Man, I would have paid anything to see that.' Chloe laughed out loud. 'You're so lucky, Clark.'

And that's when it clicked.

Betty. Whale of a monster. Huge woman sitting on top of Lois. Betty was Mrs. Berkley! Maurice was probably her maiden name.

'Chloe, how did you-?'

A petrified Lois interrupted his question scrambling the blanket off of her as she tried to get up.

'I think Mrs. Kent is calling me, I should go.' She desperately reached for the crunches.

'Wait!' Clark's voice seemed booming. Turning to Chloe he repeated his question: 'I never told you about that. How did you know about Betty falling on top of Lois?'

Lois' heart pounded furiously in her chest.

'Lois told me.' Chloe shrugged completely unaware of what she'd just revealed.

Clark's eyes widened and immediately fell on Lois; their gazes locked. The expression on her face was all the confirmation he needed… She remembered… everything.

**Chapter 16**

His heart beat frantically in his chest.

'Hmm... Chloe... I think my mom's calling you.' He managed to push the words passed the knot in his throat; his eyes were fixed on hers.

'I didn't hear anything.' Chloe frowned.

'I did.' He replied.

His mind was a jumble of thoughts, an overall chaos.

'I'll go!' Lois anxiously cut in ultimately breaking eye contact as she made a hasty move to get up.

'Stay.' The urgency in his voice made it sound more as a request than an order. Turning to the blonde at his side he added: 'Chloe?'

With a creased brow her gaze alternated between Clark and Lois. What was going on between them? Gradually she became aware of the heavy tension filling the room.

Clark had a strange expression on his face, his attention entirely focussed on Lois. Her cousin on the other hand seemed positively petrified, her cheeks were flushed, her pupils dilated and she was doing that bizarre blinking thing she always did when she was extremely unnerved.

Just what was going on?

Clark gave her a pleading look. Still a bit alarmed, she relented; pushing back her curiosity she wordlessly got up and turned to leave.

Lois gulped when the two finally found themselves alone. Her brain raced, trying to contrive a hasty escape.

'You know? I'm really hungry all of a sudden. I better get some food in-'

'Have a cookie.' He suggested monotonically.

Lois glanced at the plate on the coffee table.

'Oh, right... Yeah… Well, I-I really have a craving for...' She drew a blank. It wasn't her fault it was kind of hard to think with him looking at her like that. '...food that isn't cookies.' She finished weakly.

And with that she pushed herself off the couch and went for it. Crutches be damned!

She desperately hobbled her way around the couch, but her absurd and short-lived attempt at a flee came to an abrupt halt when she found him suddenly blocking in her path.

Tilting her head sideways to look over his shoulder she blurted:

'I think you were right I really hear your mom calling-'

'You remember...'

She swallowed hard at his words, but held her ground:

'We really should check on your-'

Did she really expect him to just ignore this too?

'How long?'

'Your mom might need-'

He cut her off shouting over his shoulder in the direction of the kitchen:

'Mom, do you need any help?'

'No, honey. It's still gonna take a little while.'

Lois' shoulders slumped at Martha's reply.

'How long?' He repeated the question.

Ok, maybe distracting him wasn't going to work, but she could still pretend to be completely oblivious, couldn't she?

'What are you talking about, Smallville?' She decided to play dumb. It was her only choice.

She had to be kidding!

'You know exactly what I'm talking about Lois.'

'No, I don't.' She said nonchalantly as she began to haughtily limp around him. 'And now if you'll excuse me I'll just go eat-Ah!'

_'That's it!_' He decided and with one swift move she was flung over his shoulder eliciting a yelp from her.

'Hmm, Clark this isn't funny.' She could barely speak as her stomach pressed over his shoulder blade every time he took a determined step up the staircase.

'Clark?'

_'Oh, my God what was he doing?'_

'Clark?!' She hissed but got no answer from him as he continued down the hall. 'Clark if you don't put me down this minute I'm going to-'

She stopped herself as he abruptly plopped her down on his bed and walked over to close the door behind him.

She sat there, pulse racing in her throat as she waited for him to say something.

'How long?'

'I don't know what you're-'

'Will you stop saying that? I know you remember.' He paused before adding: 'Everything.'

'Well, whatever you think I remember-'

'We had sex!'

That's when all the air got sucked out of the room.

'_Crap!'_ It pretty much summed up her thoughts at that moment.

His eyes widened the instant the words were out of his mouth. He'd actually said it out loud. He'd been struggling with it for so long and now it was out. He should be feeling relieved. Then why was his heart still threatening to jump out of his chest?

The silence stretched painfully until he seemed to regain control of his voice.

'A-and I know you remember.'

'_Breathe._' She kept having to remind herself of that.

'So don't try to deny it.' He stepped away from the door. 'Sin-since when? When did you-? Have you known all along or did you remember afterwards?'

She just sat there, mute.

'Lois?'

Silence.

'Lois, you can't just sit there and say nothing.' He practically begged.

'Clark...' It was a barely a whisper. 'I don't know-'

'Lois!' He shouted.

'Ok, fine I remember?' She snapped. 'Happy now? I remember! I wish to God I didn't but I do.'

'H-how? You said the whole thing was a blank and-'

'It was... at first.'

She couldn't believe she was doing this.

'But then it started coming back to me and now… it's all there.' She put on a fake closed-mouth smile as she guaranteed him: 'Every little detail.'

She watched his Adam's apple bob a couple of times before he spoke:

'When?'

She frowned.

'Huh?'

'When did you remember everything?'

'Is that really important?'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'I just wanna know.' He insisted.

'I don't know. Two or three days later.'

'Two or three- You've known for more than a month and you didn't say anything?' He asked incredulous.

'Oh right! You are so shocked and appalled! You LIED to me!' She pointed out clumsily getting up to stand toe to toe with him. 'I seem to recall some major editing in your version of what happened during those two days.'

'I-I didn't know what to say.' He stuttered under her accusing glare.

'You didn't know what to say? What about me? What was I supposed to say after waking up?'

'But you just said you didn't remember.' He looked at her with a genuinely puzzled look.

Oh, he couldn't be that naive. Could he?

'Clark, I'm a woman!'

He looked even more lost.

'A woman knows when she's just had sex. It's kind of hard to ignore the physical evidence.'

She could see it in his eyes as the cogs in his head slowly turned. Slowly being the operative word.

'Oh!'

'Yeah, oh! So you can imagine just how freaked out I was!' She stared up at him as she vented out the feeling and thoughts that had been bottled up inside her for the last month. 'I wake up in a strange room.' She counted off her fingers, her eyebrows going higher up on her forehead with every word. 'Amnesia girl. Naked. And pretty sure I'd just had sex.' She tilted her head as she added sarcastically: 'Am I forgetting something? Oh, right! There was a dead body next to the bed!'

'I'm sorry I just didn't...' He dropped his gaze in shame. 'I tried to tell you...'

'Right...' She rolled her eyes at him turning away.

'I was wrong, ok? I know that.' He admitted. 'But you should have told me you remembered.'

'What?!'

In her anger she whipped around, the sudden move causing her to lose balance.

Clark's hand was on her arm to steady her in under a second.

Her stomach fluttered at the contact.

His fingers lingered on her for a couple of seconds before he dropped his hand and spoke:

'We both should have said something sooner.'

'Why?'

'Why?!' He repeated flabbergasted.

'Yes, why? There is no point to it.'

'What do you mean no point?'

'There is nothing to talk about!' She shrugged in an attempt to seem unaffected.

'Nothing-?' He choked out.

'Lois, we... made... we did... we...'

'We were in a meteor rock induced hormonal meltdown.' She tried to trivialize. 'It made us do things. And feel... things...'

It was getting hard to keep her cool as the memories kept popping into her head.

'We were just there. At the same time... and… horny!' She summed up.

'I think it's a little more complicated than that Lois...' He tried to counter.

'No, it's not!' She shook her head vehemently. 'I mean it's not like either of us wanted that to happen, right?' She huffed but her eyes looked up at him trying desperately to read his expression. 'Those feelings... it was the mystic meteor fog… thingie.'

'So you don't have...' He trailed off.

'No! Of course not!' She denied trying to keep the nervousness from her voice.

His heart sank at that.

'I mean, you don't... you know?' She probed; her heart stopping as she waited for his answer.

It took a couple of seconds.

'No.' He couldn't look at her as he said it.

For some reason she didn't feel relief. She was supposed to feel relief, damn it! Why did it feel like someone was sitting on her chest making it painful to breathe? Why did it... hurt?

'So that's that...' She managed to haul out the words.

'I guess...'

'Ok...'

'We better...' He Walked over to the door and held it open for her.

'Right.' She mumbled limping out into the hall.

When they reached the stairs he looked at her but she assured him:

'I can do it.' And hopped her way down the staircase.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 17**

Chloe jumped up to attention when she heard them come down the stairs. They'd been up there for over ten minutes. What was up with them?

'Clark?'

'Not now, Chloe.' Was his curt reply as he walked passed her and into the kitchen.

After a couple of seconds she regained her composure and went to meet her cousin who was now retrieving her crutches from behind the couch.

'So...' She began. 'You wanna talk about it?'

Lois sighed.

'There is nothing to talk about.' She muttered plopping down on the couch.

Chloe sat down next to her.

'Are you sure? Cause the tension back there was-'

'Chloe?'

'Yeah?'

'Just let it go, ok?'

The look on Lois' face made it clear that the only option was to indulge her request.

Chloe nodded and the two sat in silence.

'Once again, thanks so much for stopping by.' Martha said as she opened the door from Gabe.

'It was our pleasure. Thank you for inviting us and Merry Christmas.'

'Merry Christmas to you too, Gabe.'

'The food was great, as always, Mrs. Kent.' Chloe complimented leaning in for a goodbye kiss.

'I'm glad you enjoyed it, Merry Christmas.'

'Merry Christmas.'

With that Chloe turned to leave and followed her dad to the car.

Closing the door, Martha returned to the living room to find Clark and Lois on opposite sides of the room clearly trying to ignore each other. They'd both been extremely quiet during lunch and most of the afternoon. She recognized the brooding behaviour in her son, but it seemed strange to see Lois acting the same way. She'd barely said a word and had kept her eyes fixed on her plate during most of the meal. Afterwards she'd gone into the kitchen and kept busy by washing the dishes.

'That was a lovely evening, don't you think?' She tried to start up a conversation but it was clear that that wasn't going to happen when both muttered their replies under their breaths.

'I think I'm going to go to bed early today.' Lois spoke picking up her crutches.

'Oh, ok. Goodnight, sweetheart.'

'Goodnight, Mrs. Kent.'

Martha's gaze fell on her son when he didn't move.

'Clark?'

He looked up.

'Huh?' He mumbled furrowing his brow at his mother's vigorous head tilts towards the staircase.

He glanced towards it to find Lois struggling with the steps and then back at his mother who mouthed:

'Help her.'

'Mom!' He mouthed back his protest adding his trademark puppy dog eye look.

All she had to do was to widen her eyes at him and he was up.

'Lois, let me help you with that.' He offered dropping his gaze.

'No, it's ok. I can-'

'I won't hear the end of it from my mom if I don't do this. So just play along, will you?'

Lois turned to see Martha standing in the middle of the living room looking back at them.

'Fine.' She let out an exasperated sigh and handed him the crutches with one hand while wrapping her arm around his neck.

He fought to keep his breathing even when she moved closer to him and she prepared herself for the flutter in her stomach that happened every time he'd scoop her into his arms.

_'You'd think after all the times he's done it lately I would have gotten used to it.' _She thought.

With one fluid movement of his arm he pulled her up against his chest.

_'Nope, still there.'_ She mentally noted as he carried her up the stairs.

'I can do the rest by myself.' She informed him the moment they reached the top floor.

Wordlessly, he let her down, handed her the crutches and turned around to walk back to the living room leaving her at the top of the stairs trying to convince herself that what she was feeling wasn't disappointment.

The next day she woke up optimistic. Sure she hadn't slept a wink plagued by recurring thoughts of a certain farm boy who was probably sleeping half naked on the ground floor of the house but never the less something told her this was going to be a good day.

She questioned that feeling when she was faced once again with the overwhelming task of coming down the stairs.

Inhaling deeply she decided that _this_ was not going to bring her down. No, she was in a good mood and nothing was going to ruin that.

Plus, during her morning shower she'd concocted a strategy to tackle this specific dilemma in her daily routine. What really caused trouble were the crutches. It was impossible to come down the stairs with them and much easier to simply use the railing as support. Problem was she couldn't simply leave her crutches because she needed them to walk once she was downstairs. The solution to her problem?

She raised her chin smugly congratulating herself on her own _geniusness_ before simply flinging her crutches down the stairs. The ear-splitting crashing sound that came with it caused her to jump up.

'Maybe not that genius.' She reconsidered when she heard Clark's startled exclamation:

'What the hell?!'

Soon followed by his mother's scolding:

'Clark! Watch your language!'

'Sorry mom.'

'Sorry. My fault.' She yelled as she began coming down the steps.

When she finally reached the bottom and picked up her crutches Clark and Mrs. Kent were standing there staring at her.

'What was that?' Clark asked.

'Hmm... The sound of crutches falling down the stairs.' She stated the obvious with a duh expression on her face.

'Did you drop them?' Martha inquired.

'No, I threw them.' She said matter-of-factly.

'Why?!' Clark questioned raising both eyebrows at her.

'I can't come down the stairs while carrying them.' She explained walking passed the two and into the kitchen.

'So you just threw them?' Clark couldn't help but gape at her distorted sense of logic.

'Sorry, forget about the bang factor. Won't happen again.' She promised offhandedly while Clark rolled his eyes at her.

Turning to his mother he asked.

'Is there anything else you need?'

'No, that's everything.'

'Where're you going?' She mentally kicked herself just as the words slipped out of her mouth.

She wasn't supposed to care where he was going.

'Out.'

'Clark!' His mother reprimanded once again but he was already out the door. 'I don't know what's gotten into him. He probably didn't get any sleep.'

That she was sure of. She'd heard him stomping in the bathroom in the middle of the night. Again. It seemed Smallville had taken up the habit of getting midnight showers.

'Do you want something to eat?' Martha's question brought her back to reality.

'Um... Do you have chocolate?'

'Chocolate?' Martha frowned at the odd request.

Lois gave her a tight smile and a shrugged.

'Weird craving?'

'Well... I don't know…' Martha tried to remember. 'I'm really not sure if we have any.'

Chocolate wasn't something they usually had around the house. Clark always preferred healthier foods and his only sweet tooth was her home made apple pie and her blueberry pie.

'I'll just call Clark as ask him to get some...' Martha decided. 'What is it you want exactly?'

'Chocolate.'

'Just chocolate? Nothing in particular?' Martha wondered a bit puzzled.

'As long as it has chocolate.'

'Oh, ok...' She trailed off as she picked up the phone and dialled.

She tried not to look up from her laptop when she heard the truck pull up.

She didn't care if he was home or not. That's what she told herself even though her heartbeat seemed to speed up with every second that ticked by and she didn't hear the back door open. It skipped a beat when the familiar creaking sound finally reached her ears followed by footsteps and a:

'Hey.'

Since when did his voice give her goosebumps?

As indifferently as she could she looked up. He was carrying two grocery bags into the kitchen.

'Hey.'

'Where's my mom?'

'She's upstairs, cleaning.' She looked back at the screen in front of her but was fully aware of his movements.

He walked back out and within a few seconds she felt him return and close the door behind him.

'Here you go.'

She glanced to find a pile of chocolate bars he'd placed on the table.

'What's this?' She asked in awe.

There was everything ranging from simply chocolate bars, to chocolate with fruit, grains, coconut, marzipan, marshmallow, caramel, coffee and... fudge! She loved fudge!

'What? Did you do buy the whole store?' She wondered.

'Mom said you wanted chocolate. She didn't say what kind.' He explained walking back to the kitchen to retrieve something leaving her to ponder over which delicacy to taste first.

She pushed back the naughty parallels her mind was establishing between this situation and one particular memory that kept popping into her brain.

_'Just focus on the chocolate.'_ She told herself.

'And here you go.'

She turned to see him standing there holding a pair of red crutches in his hands.

'Uh... I already have a two of those...' She stated with a frown.

'These are the upstairs crutches.' He clarified. 'This way you have a set on the top floor and one downstairs. No need to throw anything around, ok?'

Before she could stop herself she was smiling. He'd bought her crutches and solved her daily morning dilemma.

'Thanks.' She said genuinely.

He felt his heart jump at her smile. God, she was beautiful.

'You're welcome.' He managed to say with a goofy smirk of his own.

She loved it when he did that.

'No, you don't! You don't love anything about Clark Kent!' Her brain quickly shouted at her and she shook herself out of her mini-trance.

'Well, I've got work, so...'

Her hand came up to shush him away.

'I'll just leave these upstairs by the staircase.'

'Sure.' She replied offhandedly, eyes fixed on the screen as he left.

**Chapter 18**

At the sound of knocking Lois' attention was averted from her laptop. Picking up her crutches she made her way to the backdoor of the Kent household. Opening it she was greeted by a grinning girl. However, it didn't last - the smile was gone and promptly replaced by a guarded frown when her eyes met Lois.

Lois eyed her with equal suspicious. She was in her early twenties, short and judging by her high cheekbones and defined jaw line Lois assumed that under that pile of clothing she was also thin. She had large blue eyes, a small nose and mouth and two locks of brown hair escaped the hood of her coat to frame her flushed face.

'Um... Hi.' She greeted awkwardly, tapping her feet on the doormat as she adjusted her satchel over her right shoulder.

'Hi.' Lois replied rather dryly.

'Is Clark home?' She asked.

Before Lois could answer Martha's voice came from behind her:

'Abby! I didn't know you were coming over. Come in.' She invited with a smile.

Lois stood her ground and only backed up when she felt Mrs. Kent standing right behind her.

She closed the door with her eyes still following Abby as she entered the house.

Who was Abby?

'Happy holidays, Mrs. Kent.'

'Happy holidays. Lois, this is Abby. Abby this is Lois.' Martha introduced.

'Oh...' Abby muttered.

Lois could swear there was something in the look Abby gave her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

'Nice to meet you.' The new guest greeted with an almost plastic smile as she dropped the hood of her coat to reveal a mass of brown curls.

Man, she looked like the girl from a shampoo commercial! Lois didn't know hair like that was possible. Had she gone to the hair salon before stopping by? And by the way, why was she here anyway?

'Hey.' Lois gave her a nod.

'Is Clark home?' Abby turned her back on Lois and faced Martha.

'Yes, he's in the barn.' Martha informed.

'Ok. I'll just go up there. Thanks, Mrs. Kent.' As she left she dismissively threw over her shoulder: 'Nice to meet you, Lois.'

'Yeah, you too.' She replied following Abby through the window to see her practically frolic her way to the barn.

The sight of it irked Lois and she couldn't help but scrunch up her nose.

'So...' Lois started trying to figure out how she was going to approach the subject seeing as Mrs. Kent wasn't spontaneously providing any information on Abby. 'Who's she?'

'Who Abby?'

Lois nodded.

'Oh, she's... hmm... she's just a friend of Clark's.'

Lois' eyebrow arched when she realised her question had left Mrs. Kent a little uneasy.

'A friend? From high school?' She continued her inquiry, frowning as the older woman kept her gaze buried in the cloves of garlic she was chopping.

'Hmm... no. I think they met in college.' Martha's voice appeared to falter in mid sentence.

She was hiding something.

'College, huh?' Lois tilted her head sideways closely watching Mrs. Kent nervously slice the garlic.

'Yeah.'

That was all she was going to get out of her.

She was distracted when her cell phone rang. Hopping over to the table she let out a sigh when she read the name flashing on the small screen.

_'What does he want?' _She wondered while pondering whether or not to pick up.

After three more rings and a quizzical look from Mrs. Kent she flipped the lid open.

'Hey.'

'Hey.' Oliver replied from the other side of the line. 'How are you?'

'Fine.'

'Yeah, you sound fine.'

She could hear him smirk.

'Don't worry, my call is purely a professional one.'

'Professional?'

'Yes, or are you no longer Senator Kent's Chief of staff?'

'What is it then?' She asked ignoring his question.

'I was wondering if the Senator would be interested in attending the annual Star City Christmas Gala.'

'Isn't that invitation... about a day too late? I'm pretty sure Christmas was yesterday.' Lois scoffed haughtily.

She heard Oliver chuckle before he informed:

'If you must know it's called the Christmas Gala but it's traditionally held the day after.'

Lois waved her free hand in the air until she caught Mrs. Kent's eye.

'The Star City Christmas Gala? And why would Senator Kent want to attend that function?'

Martha's eyes widened at the mention of the Gala. It was probably the most exclusive and important event of the season in Star City.

'It would be a very good opportunity for Mrs. Kent to establish a connection with some very... lets say… significant people in the political arena.'

'Hold on a sec.'

Putting her hand over the phone Lois turned to Mrs. Kent.

'It's Oliver. He's inviting you to the Star City Christmas Gala. Says there are a few people he would like you to meet.'

Martha was caught off guard by the surprise invitation. It would definitely be a great opportunity to get some of her views and ideas heard by some very influential people.

'I-I don't know. It's tonight, I don't know if there is time...'

Lois instantly put the phone back against her ear.

'She's going.' She decided almost unilaterally. 'Is there a way you can help with the logistics? We're not sure if there are any flights for Star City today.'

'My jet is at her service. I'll have someone at the farm to pick her up by five.' He offered immediately.

'Good.'

There was an awkward pause before Oliver finally spoke:

'Ok... I guess that's it then.'

'Yeah. Well… goodbye.'

'Bye, Lois.'

With that she hung up.

'Oliver says he'll send the jet. Someone will come pick you up at five.'

'At five?!' Martha was still a bit in shock. It had all happened in under five minutes. 'But I don't have anything to wear, or-'

'Of course you do. Don't worry, we'll fix it!'

'I-I have to tell Clark.' Martha was slowly coming out of her initial daze.

'Oh, I'm sure Smallville is busy with Annie.' Lois couldn't keep the disdain from her voice.

'Abby.' Martha corrected.

'Whatever.' Lois muttered dismissively as she made her way to the stairs.

When she noticed Mrs. Kent wasn't following her she stopped.

'Come on Mrs. Kent. We have to get you ready and we only have three hours.'

'What about your dinner. I have to-'

'Don't worry about it. I'll cook up something.'

Martha froze. At her horrified expression Lois exclaimed:

'What?'

Martha simply looked at her, her eyebrows coming together over the bridge of her nose for a painful look.

Letting out a sigh Lois assured her:

'I'm not going to poison your son, Mrs. Kent.'

'Maybe it's best if Clark cooks. Or-or there are still some leftovers from lunch.'

Shaking her head Lois relented:

'Fine we'll have leftovers don't worry. Now, come on.'

'Mom!' Clark called as he entered the house through the back door Abby following close behind.

'God, it's freezing out there.' She tittered taking off her coat.

Clark smiled at her before calling again:

'Mom? Lois?'

There was no answer.

'They're probably upstairs.' Clark assumed walking into the kitchen. 'Do you want something to eat?'

'What do you have?' Abby asked walking in after him.

'My mom made apple pie today. Do you want some?'

'Sure.' Abby accepted leaning against the counter as he went about fixing them a snack.

'Here you go.' He handed her a plate with a large slice of warm apple pie.

'Thanks.' She smiled up at him; her eyes widened when she say a tiny cluster of green leaves hanging on the slab directly above them.

Seeing her distracted, Clark's gaze followed hers to see what had caught her attention. He gulped at the sight of the piece of mistletoe. When he looked back at her she was staring intensely up at him.

'Mistletoe.' She eventually said something when the silence became too loud to handle.

'Yeah.' He smiled awkwardly.

Before he could react she was raising herself on the tip of her toes, leaning towards him. Reluctantly he moved closer and let his lips press against hers for a split second. He was about to pull away when her small hands gripped the back of his neck and pulled him closer for another kiss.

Uncomfortably, his hands settled on her shoulders as she continued to cling to him.

_'Mom!'_

Clark's voice carried through to Mrs. Kent's room.

_'Mom? Lois?'_

'He's here.' Martha noted as she brushed her hair into place.

'Don't worry. I'll go tell him.' Lois offered picking up her crutches and exiting the room.

With growing skill she managed to drag herself down the stairs. She was getting quite good at it.

Picking up her old set of crutches she hobbled across the living room and into the kitchen. She froze in place when she saw them. A powerful wave of nausea made her stomach turn and a sudden sting in her lungs made her catch her breath.

Clark and Abby were kissing.

That's why Mrs. Kent had been so jumpy when she'd asked who she was. Clark and Abby were dating - that was the painful conclusion offered to her by her shell-shocked mind.

Her heart jumped to her throat when the two finally pulled away; Clark's eyes almost immediately locking with hers.

'Lois!' He breathed with wide eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 19**

He quickly scrambled out of Abby's grip, nervously pressing his hands against his hips as if trying to get them clean. His eyes were wide and his heartbeat was erratic while he tried to find his voice.

'Don't mind me.' It took all of her strength to ignore the suffocating feeling in he chest and not allow it to filter into her voice. She continued as nonchalantly as she could manage. She was quite successful considering how tight the knot in her throat was: 'Your mom was invited to attend some fancy Gala at Star City. Her ride should be here any minute.'

He was still too thrown by what had just happened to be able to process the information she had provided. All he could think about was her and what _she_ was thinking.

'Lois, this isn't-' He tried but she cut him off:

'I better go upstairs and help your mom get ready' She tried desperately to keep in check the anger that was now bubbling inside of her.

She had to get out of there as quickly as possible. If not she was either going to throw up or pounce on Abby to ring her scrawny little neck!

'Lois, wait!' He pleaded chasing after her and leaving Abby alone in the kitchen.

He caught up to her at the bottom of the staircase.

'Lois, this... what you saw-' The loud pounding in his ears made him choke out his words.

'Is none of my business.' She completed his sentence.

'Wait. Just wait.' He asked anxiously.

His hand on her arm kept her from leaving.

'Clark, I have to go help your mom.' Looking over his shoulder she saw Abby standing there.

For some reason, alien to her, she felt her blood boil at the doe eyed look she had on her face. Restraining the sudden urge to bash her pearly little teeth in, she pulled the reins on her rage and said as steadily as possible: 'And I think you're kinda busy right now.'

She turned to leave before things got out of hand, but his grip on her kept her in place.

'Lois, please just hear me out… I- What you saw was-'

This time it was a knock on the door that interrupted him.

The two stood in silence, theirs gazes locked before there was another knock.

'You better get that.' Lois suggested.

At the third incessant tap Clark reluctantly let go of her and walked back to the door, passed Abby. Oh, right, she was still there!

Opening the door he frowned when he was met with a familiar tuxedo-clad man.

'Oliver? What are you doing here?'

'Good evening, Clark.' He greeted stepping into the house with his usual confident stride.

He faltered when he noticed Lois standing by the staircase – left foot bound with a bandage and a crutch under each arm.

'Lois? What happened?' The concern was clear in his tone and in the quick pace with which he crossed the room toward her.

'I…'

What was the excuse Clark had given for her?

'I stumbled on the front porch.'

Clark watched from the door; his hand instantly fisting around the forgotten doorknob when Oliver placed a worried hand on her shoulder. What was he doing here? Why was he wearing a tuxedo? Were they going out? He swallowed dryly at the thought. Were Lois and he back together?! And why was he touching her?!

'Clark?'

His eyes snapped down to see Abby standing in front of him.

'Huh?'

His attention was completely focussed on the couple talking on the other side of the room. What was he doing here? It was becoming a recurrent mantra in his mind. And was Abby saying something?

'… what happened.'

'Huh?' He turned to the small girl in front of him. 'Sorry, did you say something?'

Abby let out a sigh. If she had any doubts about her suspicions towards Clark and Lois before, they were completely erased by his current reaction.

'I'm sorry about what happened.' She repeated.

Clark gave her a puzzled look. What was she talking about?

'The kiss?'

Oh… that.

'No, it's ok.' He said offhandedly, his gaze back on the Oliver and Lois.

Why was he still touching her? Why did she let him? He loosened his death grip on the handle of the door when he heard it screech out its protest.

Letting her shoulders slump Abby continued:

'I better go.'

'What? Oh, yes… Of course.' He shook his head trying hard to focus on Abby. 'Thanks for stopping by.'

'Your welcome.' Abby uttered in defeat.

Clark was definitely taken already. No room for her left. The only thing left to do was to leave.

'Goodbye.'

'Hmm… Bye.' He replied distracted once again.

Closing the door behind her he stood there rigid watching with large threatening eyes as Oliver's thumb lightly rubbed her shoulder.

Stiffly he crossed the room towards them. Thankfully, Oliver finally stepped away from her when he noticed Clark looming behind him.

'Clark, how have you been doing?' He asked.

'Fine.' He responded tersely.

The three stood in awkward silence, Lois' eyes alternating between one and the other. Was it just her or were the two suddenly growing taller? They stood side by 

side, with their backs straight as arrows, their shoulders squared as they stared at each other. Was Clark glaring?!

And then Oliver's lip curled sideways for his trademark knowing smirk. Lois could see him visibly relax while Clark, if possible, stiffened even more.

So it had finally happened… the inevitable – Clark and Lois had finally snapped out of her combined oblivion about their feelings for one another. Ever since the start of their relationship, since the moment he had seen the two in the same room together he had known that his romantic relationship with Lois would be a temporary one, a brief moment before the two thickheads realised what they had. Oliver had figured it was only a matter of time and now it was clear that _his_ time with Lois was truly over. He knew it was coming and he had no problem accepting it.

Why was he smirking? Why was he-

'Oliver!'

His mother's voice snapped him out of his musings. He looked up to see her dressed in a gorgeous dark blue dress, her hair pinned up in the back of her head leaving a mass red waves to flow over her right shoulder. She looked amazing!

'What are you doing here?' She asked when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

'I came to escort you, Senator Kent. You look absolutely stunning.' He complimented gallantly offering his arm to her, which she took.

'Thank you.'

Clark's mind eventually pieced out the little bits of information - so Oliver was the one who had invited his mother and that's why he was there. He felt himself unwind at the realisation.

'Shall we?'

Martha gave Oliver a shy nod as they made their way to the door.

'Oh, Clark.' She stopped and turned to her son.

'Yeah.'

'There are some leftovers in the fridge and apple pie.'

'Don't worry about it, Mrs. Kent. Go, have fun.' Lois assured her yet again. 'You look amazing!'

'Oh, thank you sweetheart!' Martha's cheek gained a soft shade of pink.

'You do, mom.' Clark joined in the praising.

'Thanks.'

The two watched as Martha and Oliver left. The door closed and they found themselves alone. They stood there in awkward stillness for a couple of seconds before Lois made a hasty retreat to the kitchen muttering something about being hungry.

Watching her scurry off with an angry hop Clark had a sneaky suspicion that this was going to be a long evening filled with tense and uncomfortable silences.

**Chapter 20**

Clark paused for a second and took a deep breath before entering the kitchen. He knew she was there; he'd heard her come down.

They had more or less effectively avoided one another for the rest of the afternoon after his mother and Oliver had left for the Gala.

After snagging a slice of pie Lois had darted upstairs and cooped herself up in his room for hours while he remained downstairs trying to distract himself with everything and anything he could think of.

Unfortunately, there were no chores left to do or errands to take care of which made his task particularly hard. He'd settled for watching TV, but there was absolutely nothing that captured his interest. Somehow, no show seemed as fascinating as the most meaningless of noises his hearing could pick up from upstairs.

After four excruciating hours of alternating between pacing around the room and anxiously shifting on the couch the jittery patter of her crutches making their way down the hall caught his attention.

He hadn't moved from his spot on the sofa, but his senses were completely engrossed in tracking her every move as she came down the staircase and hobbled into the kitchen.

He waited one maybe two minutes; that was all he could handle. Convincing himself that he was suddenly famished he stood up and crossed the living room into the kitchen. When he stepped into the space he found her standing at the sink, her back to him washing the dish she had used to transport her slice of pie.

'Hey.' He greeted tentatively walking fully into the room.

'Hey.' She replied without looking at him while she left the clean plate to dry.

She could feel him standing behind her. Why did he have to stand so close? Instinctively, she moved, trying to lengthen the distance between them. She opened the refrigerator door to inspect its contents.

'Hungry, huh?'

'_Why else would she be looking in the refrigerator?'_ He mentally chastised himself for not coming up with something more interesting to start off the conversation.

It wasn't his fault couldn't think straight. He was jumpy; being around her always kept him on his toes. That was the effect that Lois Lane had on him from the get go. Somehow, over the last few days, the feeling had grown to the point that it seemed to short circuit most of his thought processes. The now blatant tension between them only served to fuel the uncomfortable restlessness.

'Yeah.' She uttered dismissively taking out a Tupperware and placing it on the counter.

'Do you want to eat dinner? Cause there are-'

'Leftovers. I know. I just want a cheese sandwich.' She quickly cut him off.

Exhaling in defeat he went about making his own dinner.

Walking past her toward the fridge his arm brushed up against her back eliciting a chill to rush down her spine. She couldn't help but stiffen a little at the light touch.

Keeping her breathing as even as possible, she reached for the bread. She almost cut herself when he grazed against her on his way to the microwave.

She did her best to ignore the multiple times their bodies came into contact as they moved about the kitchen to make their respective dinners. She'd never noticed just how claustrophobic that kitchen could actually be. She felt like she was completely surrounded by him; his touch, his breath, his scent! It was driving nuts!

She finally jerked into action when he reached behind her for the top cabinets successfully trapping her between the counter and his body. Dropping the knife on 

the cutting board with a loud clang she exclaimed snapping her gaze up to meet his:

'Do you mind?!'

Even though he'd backed up a bit in surprise he was still too close for comfort. He towered over her staring back with an innocent look, apparently oblivious to the effect his closeness had on her.

'What?'

'Stop touching me!'

'What?!' He repeated flabbergasted. 'I didn't touch you!'

'Yes, you did!' She insisted with a deadly glare. 'Every time you move to get something. How hard can it be to heat up some leftovers in the microwave without bumping into me?'

'It's not my fault you're standing in front of the cabinets!' He defended himself snapping out of his initial shock. 'I needed to get a glass.'

'Can't you wait until I'm done?'

'I'm hungry!'

'I was here first!'

God, he'd reduced her ability to argue to one of a four year old!

'Fine!' He grumbled leaning back against the sink with his arms crossed over his chest.

She went back to making her sandwich. After enduring ten seconds under his intense scrutiny she jolted again.

'Stop that!'

'I didn't move!' He protested.

'Stop looking at me!' She demanded.

'Now I can't even look at you?!'

'No!' She stated matter-of-factly.

'What?!'

She was insane.

'I can't concentrate when you look at me like that.'

She needed to concentrate to make a cheese sandwich?

'Like what?'

'Like… That!' She emphatically waved her knife at him when she was at a loss for words.

'I'm not doing anything!'

'Yes, you are! You're standing there and staring at me and brushing up against me a-and you smell…'

He frowned, standing up to his full height. He didn't smell. He'd taken his second shower of the day just before Abby had gotten there.

'And I can't breathe!' She finished blurting out in one breath.

'Lois…' He tried but she interrupted him like she always did.

'Look don't you want to take Annie out for dinner or something?'

'Annie?' He questioned puzzled.

'Small little thing, this high, dramatic hair? Basically your regular Lana look alike?' She scoffed.

'Abby.' He realised.

'Yeah, that one.' She couldn't contain the disdain in her voice. 'You should really take her out to eat. The girl looks like a stick figure. Then again that's the typical girl you fall for, isn't it? Short, drama hair and severely malnourished.' She jibbed.

'You're not skinny.' He countered proudly oblivious the full meaning of his words.

Her brain seemed to freeze rendering her speechless for a couple of seconds as one single thought took over her mind – Had he just implied that she fat and admitted that he'd fallen for her at the same time? Her heart began pounding furiously in her ears, her stomach contracted wildly as she stared up at him.

Exactly two seconds of silence ticked by before she saw the change in his expression that told her that he'd finally realised what he'd inadvertently admitted.

She had to say something!

'_Now!'_

'Are you saying I'm fat?!' It was supposed to sound like she was appalled, instead it came out feeble and uneasy.

'N-no, I-I just…' He painfully struggled to form a logical sentence but the sudden chaos that had broken out in his belly wasn't made it impossible.

She seized the opportunity to confuse him further and avoid the one topic that had them both breathing unevenly.

'I am not fat!' She stood up straight in an attempt to look offended.

'I-I know you're not.' He choked out looking her up and down and gulping dryly causing her stomach to flip flop.

Maybe this wasn't the best choice of action. Time for plan B – run! It was always a safe bet to put as much distance between them as possible.

Dropping her gaze to her sandwich she saw it was out of reach, in order to take it she would have to step closer to him and that was not an option. Picking up her crutches she started to leave.

'What about the sandwich?' He asked.

'I'm not hungry anymore.' She lied scurrying out of the kitchen and into the living room.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 21**

She kept her eyes on the TV screen when she felt him walk in. He sat on the opposite end of the couch, but it still felt like he was too close. Why couldn't the Kent's have more than one TV?

Silently she reached for her fourth chocolate bar of the evening.

'Is that going to be your dinner?' He asked.

'According to you I'm already a big fat cow, why should I care?' She scoffed taking a gluttonous bite.

'I didn't say you were fat!' He said defensively. 'You look…' There was an uncomfortable pause as he chose his words: 'fine.'

She arched an eyebrow at him.

'Right…'

He let out an exasperated breath and focused on the flickering lights coming from the screen.

The ringing of her cell phone interrupted them.

'Oh, man…' Los muttered when she realised she'd left it in the kitchen. She really didn't feel like dragging herself back there.

Thankfully, Clark quickly offered:

'I'll get it.'

'Thanks.'

Seconds later he was standing in front of her; a stern expression on his face. Reaching for the small device she saw the name flashing – Oliver.

As she flipped the lid open to answer the call Clark left the room.

'Hello?' She said into the cell phone as she watch him stomp his way out the front door.

He didn't even bother to take his coat.

He swung the axe over his head hitting the log at his feet. If he kept this up they would end up with a pile of toothpicks and no firewood.

Right now, he didn't care. He had to find a way to get rid of this feeling that was constricting his chest and making it impossible to breathe normally.

Oliver.

Why was he calling her?

He swung again, successfully pulverizing the rest of the wood.

By the time he was done an hour had passed and it had started to rain, but at least the initially suffocating sensation had dimmed down to a slight sting in his chest. Dropping the axe he made his way back to the house.

'Finally, I was starting to get-' Lois stopped in mid sentence when she turned to see him standing in the middle of the living room.

His hair was soaked through and dishevelled, his clothes drenched and clinging to his body. It was her turn to swallow dryly. He had to have done that on purpose. He'd somehow figured it was about to rain and had gone out on purpose. All a devious plan to get her even more rattled.

She needed chocolate. Now!

'You should-' She cleared her throat when her voice came out a little too hoarse for her taste. 'You should get out of those clothes before you catch a cold.'

'I'll go shower.' He replied running his hand through his hair.

'_Definitely on purpose.'_ She decided, turning to locate some chocolate.

Cautiously he entered the bedroom. He knew that she was downstairs, he could easily pick up her regular heartbeat. Even thought it was _his_ bedroom it felt like he was invading her privacy. He was immediately struck by her scent when he stepped inside. It had taken over every inch of the room.

His lip curled sideways when he saw the tousled bed sheets but his mouth straightened when his eyes caught a glimpse of plaid peaking from underneath the comforter. Without thinking he reached for it and pulled out his shirt – the shirt. Much like the rest of the space her smell was also ingrained in the item he now held in his hand. She'd been wearing it.

He closed his eyes as a series of images flicked in his mind. He had to get dressed and get out of there before he found himself in need of yet another shower.

She was munching on her sixth or seventh chocolate bar when he came back down. As always her stomach did the frustrating flop the moment she looked up at him.

He wore a pair of ragged jeans and the traditional plaid t-shirt. He took his seat on the couch and they both sat there, watching some random TV show, neither of them paying any attention to it.

After a few minutes he spoke:

'How many chocolates can you eat, Lois?'

Her reply was immediate:

'How many showers can you take?'

That seemed to shut him up, unfortunately it also served to heighten the tension between them. This was getting ridiculous. Lois felt like the giant elephant in the room with them had just doubled in size. She began to fidget, restlessly shifting in her seat every couple of minutes.

'Are you ok?' He finally asked when she moved for the umpteenth time.

'I'm fine.'

That came out a little too quickly.

'Lois…'

Oh-oh, she knew that tone. She didn't like that tone.

'We need to talk.'

'I'm going to bed.' She sprang off the couch like it was on fire.

'Lois, we can't keep avoiding this.' He chased after her, catching up to her when she was halfway to the stairs.

'Whatever you wanna talk about, Smallville, it can wait till tomorrow.' She said dismissively but he was already blocking her way.

How many times were they going to do this?

'No.'

'Yes.' She countered trying to walk passed him but he wouldn't let her. 'Smallville…' She warned him.

They glared at each other wordlessly.

'Look, I'm tired and… kinda queasy.' She added when she felt her stomach protest.

'I want to talk.'

'I don't!'

'Well, I-'

A knock on the door interrupted him. It was eleven o'clock at night. Who could that be? It was too early to be his mother.

Lois used the opportunity to escape Clark and quickly hobbled over to the door thanking whoever had decided to pay the Kents a visit at that hour. Her gratitude dissolved completely when she saw Abby standing at the threshold.

'Hi!'

Lois' reply was a curt nod.

'Abby? What are you doing here?' Clark asked coming up to them.

'I forgot my textbook.'

Lois rolled her eyes. That was had to be the most pathetic excuse she'd ever heard!

'Oh.' Clark mumbled a bit confused. 'It's probably at the barn. I'll go get it.'

It took only a glance in Lois' direction for Abby to pipe up:

'I'll go with you.'

Shaking her head in disgust, Lois watched as the two left.

Lois tapped her nails on the kitchen counter as she waited – ten whole minutes. What was taking them so long?

She tilted her head to see that the barn light was still on.

'Forgot her textbook, my ass!' She grumbled.

Five more minutes passed before she spotted them exiting the barn.

Finally!

Her hands closed into tight fists when she saw Abby wrap her arms around Clark's.

'Oh, give me a break!'

She tried to get her anger under wraps while she waited for them to arrive.

'It's really freezing out there!' Abby's annoying voice echoed in the kitchen as the two entered.

'_Good thing Clark's body was so at hand to warm you up.'_ Lois mentally snorted.

'Yeah…' Clark agreed with his eyes focused on Lois.

She was staring daggers at them both adding to the tension in the silent room.

'Did you find the textbook?' Lois finally spoke.

Even though Clark was oblivious to the silent exchange between the two girls, they both knew exactly what was going on. Accidentally forgetting something was oldest trick in the book.

'Yes… thank God. I was getting kind of worried.' Abby replied.

'Yeah, how else would you be able to study in the middle of the holiday season?' Lois' voice dripped with sarcasm.

The three stood there completely aware of the painful silence that had once more settled between them. Lois, however, didn't seem too bothered by it.

'Do you want something to eat?' Clark blurted out when the strain became unbearable.

'Oh, no I just had dinner.'

'Plus you need to study, right?' Lois pointed out. 'I mean, why else would you come over in the middle of the night to get the textbook?'

'Yeah…' Abby forced on a plastic smile. 'I better get going.'

Before she even finished the sentence Lois was already holding the door open for her.

'Bye.' Abby uttered meekly.

'Good night.' Clark replied.

'Good luck studying.'

With that Lois swung the door closed.

**Chapter 22**

'What was that?!' Clark immediately asked following her as she plodded into the living room; crutches be damned! She was too angry to remember those.

Lois stopped and turned around to face him.

'She forgot her textbook? Oh, that's priceless!' She mocked.

'She was worried about it.' Clark argued. 'She wanted to check if it was here.'

'And she had to come over for that? That's why phones were invented.'

'My cell phone was off.'

'You're telling me that at eleven o'clock at night she gets a sudden urge to study?! Ha! That was a classic excuse to come see you.'

'And what if it was?' He countered. 'What would be the problem?'

'No problem. Just pathetic!'

Clark's eyes widened as his brain began piecing things together.

'You're jealous.' It wasn't an accusation, but more of a verbalized realisation.

'What?! Me? Jealous of grabby-Abby? You have got to be kidding!' She exclaimed aghast.

'Yes, you are!'

'I am not!' Lois insisted shocked. 'Why would I be jealous of her?'

'I don't know, but you are.'

'In your dreams…' She scoffed walking off.

He quickly trailed after her.

'Then why are you acting like this?'

'Like what?' She halted again to face him.

'Like you're jealous.'

'I'm not jealous! I just don't like her.' She defiantly narrowed her eyes at him.

'Why not?'

She was stumped for an answer.

'Because I don't.' She eventually blurted.

'That's not a reason.'

'I don't have to have a reason not to like someone.' Lois argued.

'Yes, you do.'

'Fine! You want a reason?'

He nodded.

'I don't like that phoney toothpaste commercial smile of hers, or that pseudo-angelic doe eyed look she tries to charm everyone with. She's too short and too skinny. And she frolics!' She finished.

'She frolics?' Clark repeated with a frown.

'Yes! Skipping all the way to the barn to see her man!'

'You can't say you don't like a person because of the way they walk.'

'Oh, yes I can.'

'Lois, that's ridiculous.'

'Ridiculous is the way she acts around you.'

'What way?'

'Like a cheerleader in heat! She's always grabbing you.'

'She didn't grab me.'

Tilting her head sideways she ridiculed Abby in a whiny tone:

'Oh, it's so cold, let me grab onto my strong farm boy! He'll protect me from the wicked cold.'

'You were spying on us?' Clark said in shock.

'I wasn't spying!' She denied vehemently. 'I just happened to look out the window and saw you. There is a big difference!'

'You were spying on us.'

'No, I wasn't!'

'You were spying on us because you were jealous.'

'If you say that one more time I'm going to hit you.' She threatened.

'You're jealous.' He repeated boldly.

Her fist was halfway to striking him in the chest when his hand grabbed a hold of it and effectively deflected the blow. She held her breath as she found herself in an awkward position – her body was flush against his, her arm trapped behind her back.

'Let go.' She gritted when she found her voice.

'Admit it.' His tone was low and she could feel his heart pounding just as furiously as her own.

'I don't care if you and toothpaste girl elope and have two point three babies together.' She snorted raising her chin up at him.

She anxiously waited for his reaction agonizingly aware of just how erratic her breathing was. What he did next shocked her – he let go of her. Just like that.

'Fine.' He grumbled turning around and heading for the door.

'Whe-where are you going?'

'See if I can find Abby.' He said just before storming out and slamming the door behind him.

She was left stunned in the middle of the living room, a sharp pain in her chest.

He was going after her.

A lump slowly formed in her throat forcing her to draw out every breath.

Without thinking she began to hobble towards the door; her crutches forgotten in the kitchen but she didn't care. She had to-

She froze when the door abruptly flew open and with ground eating steps Clark closed the distance between them in under a second. Wrapping his arms around her he smashed his mouth against hers.

Out of its own accord her body immediately reacted to his, her hands earnestly gripped the back of his neck, diving into his wet hair, desperately trying to get closer while his own tightened around her waist.

Their lips and tongues moved ravenously, urgently trying to deepen the kiss. She strained upwards on the tip of her toes until she felt herself being lifted clear off the floor, her legs automatically wrapping themselves around his waist. She let out a content mewl when she was finally able to freely kiss him without any effort.

She hadn't realised just how much she'd been craving this until she had tasted it. She couldn't stop holding onto him, couldn't stop kissing him; even though her lungs ached for air she refused to let go of his mouth. Eventually, as the sting became too intense she tore her lips from his and gasped for air.

Panting and avidly gulping down breaths she looked down to see him staring up at her with large eyes and just as winded as she was.

He waited anxiously for her reaction. This was usually the part where she would run off.

She didn't.

Taking one last breath she dove in and captured his lips once again. She felt his fingers dig into the flesh of her thighs; a wave of relief washed over him.

As they continued to battle with their tongues, her brain eventually registered that she was no longer standing but laying on something soft while Clark's body was draped over hers. Lazily she forced her eyes open when his mouth abandoned hers to find her earlobe.

The whole two seconds she managed to keep them focussed she was able to assess that they were actually lying on the couch. It seemed impossible to keep her eyes open while he was doing that to her ear.

God, that felt…

She moaned the hand on her neck forced her to tilt her head sideways to give him better access.

Burying his nose behind her ear he inhaled sharply. How could her smell do that do him? How could it drive him insane?

He grazed his teeth over the column of her neck eliciting yet another strangled gasp from her. Hearing her mewl like that sent a chill down his belly and he quickly moved to claim her lips again.

His hand travelled from her neck down her side until it settled on her thigh bringing her leg around his hips while he continued to kiss her.

He let out a throaty grunt, his eyes rolling back under closed lids when she ground her hips up against his.

Her mind was a delicious haze as she pushed back all the annoying question that would probably plague her the moment this was over. She didn't want to think about what this meant or worry about the repercussions of what they were doing. She didn't want to dissect her feelings or whether of not this was allowed, if it was right or wrong. The truth was it felt right and all she wanted was to keep kissing him; never stop.

She frowned slightly when an annoying ringing sound filtered into her daze. Was that her phone?

'_Please let it be something else!'_

But the more it rang, the more recognizable it became that it was in fact her cell phone.

Someone out there had a lousy sense of timing.

With great effort she pulled away from his lips, but he wouldn't let go of her, trailing warm, open mouth kisses down to her earlobe.

Oh, not that! How was she supposed to fight that?

Craning her eyelids open she looked over to the table to see the blurry image of the small device lighting up. Reluctantly she placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed.

'Clark…' She choked out the words under his ministrations but he didn't notice. Summoning all of her strength she groaned out: 'Clark… my pho-Ah… My phone.'

Slowly, he seemed to realise her intentions. Puzzled and flushed he looked up from her throat.

'My phone.' She pointed behind him.

With a foggy mind he looked over his shoulders to see the device on the table.

Grudgingly, he pushed himself off of her and reached for it.

It felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach when he saw Oliver's name flashing in front of him. Swallowing dryly he handed her the phone and stood up.

'Clark, wait.' She called out.

'I'll be in the kitchen.' He mumbled leaving her alone.

With a heavy sigh she flipped the lid open.

'Hello?'

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this nervous. It was agonizing to wait for her to finish her call and not listen in. What did he want? Again.

He was in the dark on this one. And his mind wasn't helping as it provided the most gruesome of scenarios. He couldn't be trying to get back together with Lois, could he?

Of course he was! Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be with her?

He ran his hand over his damp and messed up hair while he frantically paced around the kitchen. He could see her sitting on the couch. She was smiling. That couldn't be good. He felt another blow to the gut.

He froze solid in place when he saw her flip the lid of the cell phone closed. She was getting up and walking his way. He had to find something to busy himself with. He reached for the first thing he could find – a towel. He despaired when he realised there were no dishes to dry, so he ended up in the awkward position of standing in the middle of the kitchen with a towel in his hand when she finally entered.

'Hey…' She said coyly.

Lois was never coy.

'Hi.'

There was a long excruciating pause before he asked:

'What did Oliver want?'

Even though he dreaded the answer he needed to know.

'It wasn't him.'

He held his breath.

'It was your mom. She forgot her cell phone and she wanted to let us know that she was going to be a little late.' Lois explained fidgeting with the cell phone much like Clark was now doing with the towel.

'Oh.'

They stood there, a few feet from each other, neither daring to say a word. Eventually he spoke, swallowing dryly:

'And what did he want before?'

'That was also your mom. She was just checking up on us. She was worried you would starve to death.' Lois forced out a nervous laugh.

And yet another moment of silence settled between the two.

It was driving her insane! The questions that she'd managed to push back only a few minutes ago were now back in full force.

Taking in an encouraging breath she spoke:

'Well… I better go… to bed.'

His heart sank at her words.

Were they back to that? Back to ignoring everything?

He watched as she hesitantly shifted in her spot, like she was stuck between leaving and staying. She was about to take a step back when something inside her snapped.

'_Screw it!'_

With a brisk stride she quickly crossed the kitchen towards him griped him by his shirt and pulled him down for a hard kiss.

His eyes widened in shock at her move. He was paralyzed and by the time he'd snapped himself out of it she'd let go.

'Good night.' She mumbled tensely before scurrying out of there and leaving him completely flabbergasted in the middle of the kitchen.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 23**

She let out her tenth sigh of the night as she checked her alarm clock.

It was four o'clock in the morning. The marathon was now entering its fifth hour. Five hours of tossing and turning in her bed her mind racing, trying to process everything that had happened. Somehow it seemed to get stuck on one particular moment of the evening. She groaned lightly as a warm wave of pleasure spread through her at the memory.

'You're not going anywhere, Lois Lane!' She ordered her body.

She couldn't do this. What about Chloe? It would kill her.

The fact that she knew deep inside she didn't regret anything only made her feel worse.

Frustrated, she buried her face in her pillow sharply inhaling the scent.

The thought came to her that this was probably how junkies felt and her fix was sleeping on the couch just one floor under her.

He sat up abruptly on the couch. He couldn't sleep, how could he with her heartbeat pounding in his ears, her breathing interrupting his thoughts, her smell clinging to his shirt.

It felt like he was losing his mind.

Standing up he began a determined stride toward the staircase, but like it had happened numerous times before that night he faltered at the bottom of the stairs.

'Just go back to the couch!' He commanded out loud in the vain hope that it would subdue the urge to run upstairs and storm into her room.

It didn't.

He nervously tapped his fingers together, fisting his hands and releasing countless times while he paced around.

For five hours he hadn't been able to slow down his frantic heartbeat or even out his breathing. He didn't think it was possible but this was even worse than that night at the lodge.

Damn! Why did his mind have to bring up that memory?

It only made it worse.

Letting out a growl he buried his face in his hands.

He pressed his fingers hard into his temples as if trying to bring to a halt the turmoil inside. He failed.

It was official - he was hooked on her.

She couldn't take it. Just one more hit. Just one more time and then that was it.

Flinging the bed sheets off of her she got up and limped out of the room.

Clark's eyes snapped to the top of the stairs when his hearing picked up on the sound of a door opening. He was at the top of the staircase in an instant.

He gulped at the sight of her standing at the end of the hall – she wore his shirt, just his shirt, leaving her toned legs exposed.

They stood there, frozen at opposite sides of the corridor, eyes locked, both flushed and drawing harsh pants.

And eternity passed by and then she took a tentative step forward and he was on her in under a second.

Their lips crashed together, her hands furiously clawing at his arms and shoulder as she frantically climbed up his body wrapping her legs around him while he lifted her clear off the floor and slammed her against the nearest wall.

They moved frenziedly against each other, roughly tugging and pulling at each others clothes in a desperate attempt to increase the contact. Tongues eagerly probed, battling out the frustration that had built up over the last few days.

He pushed his hips against hers, groaning into her mouth when she responded by hungrily biting his lower lip.

Tightening his hold on her he pushed them off the wall and stumbled his way into the bedroom.

The two crashed onto the mattress with a loud thud. Her fingers abandoned his back to erratically reach for the buttons of his shirt, but she was too out of it to be bothered with them when they refused to come undone. Gripping at the fabric she tore it open and ripped it off of him in one sharp movement.

He thrust his pelvis against hers, letting her feel him hard against her centre. Another rough shove and she was achingly arching her back off the mattress, tearing her mouth away from his in the process.

Her breath hitched in her throat when she looked up at him to meet his glassy stare.

Even in the hue lit room he could see the red tinting her cheeks, her lips were large and puffy from his greedy kisses. She never looked more beautiful than at that moment, laying underneath him, shallow gasps causing her chest to rise and fall at an irregular rhythm.

Tentatively, he bent down and softly brushed his lips over hers once… twice, as if asking for permission; the gentle touch heightening the overload of sensations in her gut, her last grasp off self control breaking.

Manically she hooked her hand on the nape of his neck and forced him down for another bruising kiss, resuming their passionate battle.

She dug her heel into the back of his thigh to push up against him, her fingers fisting into his hair as her tongue assaulting his mouth.

It seemed that no matter how much she tried he was still not close enough. She needed more… more.

Clark's brow furrowed as something slowly crept into his mindless haze. Gradually he was able to identify Shelby's bark.

Why was he barking?

As he was harshly brought back to reality he became aware of the brightness filtering through his closed lids. Reluctantly opening his eyes he saw that the previously darkened room was now lit up by a harsh light coming from window. It took a few seconds for his mind to register it as headlights of a car.

Who was-? His mother! His mother was home!

'_Not now!'_ His brain screamed.

He painfully pulled his mouth away from hers to whimper out her name, but she didn't stop, rising up and eagerly sucking at his lip when he tried to pull away.

'Lois…' He repeated a little more forcefully finally managing to beak the kiss.

She stared up at him with confused eyes.

'My mom…' His voice was hoarse and filled with regret.

Suddenly everything came crashing down – Shelby's incessant barking, the cruel headlights, the time, the place.

One minute he was surrounded by her heat the next he was laying on the cold floor as Lois scrambled out of bed.

'You have to get out of here.' He heard her say; his torn shirt being flung against his naked chest and then quickly pulled back as she realised: 'Not that one. It's ruined. Here!'

Getting up, still a bit dazed, he watched as she moved frantically picking a random t-shirt that lay on the chair near the desk and thrust it into his hands as she shoved him out the door and into the hallway.

Her eyes widened in horror when the sound of the front door opening travelled up the stairs and her room became dark once more as the car that had been parked outside drove away.

'Go!' She hissed her order.

Before he had a chance to comply she had him shoved against the nearest hard surface for another crushing kiss.

When she pushed away he could read a myriad of emotions going through her – fear, doubt, exhilaration… lust.

Her bedroom door was slammed in his face before he could react.

The sound of footsteps snapped him out of his daze and he slipped his shirt on just as his mother appeared at the end of the hall.

'Clark?' She whispered.

'Hey…' He cleared his throat. 'Hey, mom.'

'What are you doing up?' She asked when she got close enough.

'I had to go to the bathroom.' His mind quickly supplied greeting his mother with a kiss. 'How was the gala?' He tried to change the focus of the conversation.

'It was nice.'

'Good… well, goodnight.' He hastily ended the conversation, bent down for another kiss and scurried off with a huge grin on his face.

Closing her eyes and catching her breath Lois leaned against the closed door; her pulse raced, her stomach cramped wildly at the onslaught of adrenaline and endorphins coursing through her body.

It was official, she'd fallen for Clark Kent.

**Chapter 24**

Clark nodded absentmindedly as his mother continued to recount what had happened at last evening's major event at Star City.

He was more than a little distracted but from what little he'd caught she had made quite an impression on the illustrious guests, especially Gotham City's very own millionaire and charming tycoon Bruce Wayne. All thanks to Oliver's protective support.

His eyes darted toward the staircase for the fifth time that morning. He'd heard her when she'd gotten up and had shuffled her way into the bathroom.

That had been fifteen unbearable minutes ago and the water was still running.

'I really think that Mr. Wayne is genuinely interested in helping the project.'

'That's great, mom.' Clark responded mechanically watching his mother slip her purse over her shoulder. 'I'll take care of the dishes.' He offered picking up the breakfast plates off the table and taking them to the sink.

'I'm so excited about this. Oliver has been incredible.' She continued praising the young man, but Mrs. Kent's words drifted into the background when the sound of water falling ceased.

Anxiety stirred in his gut as he tried to map out her movements using the noises that ringed in his ears; his mother's voice transformed into a minute droning noise in the background.

She'd walked around in her room, probably getting dressed and was now limping down the hall toward the staircase. She was coming down!

'Clark?'

'Huh?'

'You seem a bit distracted.'

'Hmm... I'm just a little tired; I didn't get much sleep last night.'

It wasn't a lie. He hadn't slept a wink, not after what had happened.

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah, I'm...' He paused when his eyes met hers while she came down the stairs. '...fine.' He finished with a gulp.

'Lois, you're up early!' Martha noted in surprise.

Nervously Lois averted her gaze from Clark's and met the older woman.

'Good morning, Mrs. Kent.' Turning toward Clark for a second she uttered: 'Smallville.'

'Lois.' He returned never taking his eyes off of her.

She inhaled deeply trying to focus on Martha:

'How was the gala?'

She didn't even register Mrs. Kent's reply; she was too busy trying to keep her breathing even.

They stood on opposite sides of the room, Clark by the sink, Lois leaning against the kitchen table, her nails fidgeting with the edge of the wooden surface. Mrs. Kent was caught right smack in the middle, oblivious to the electricity sparking between the couple. Every once in a while Lois' gaze would drift in his direction only to immediately drop back to the floor.

Martha glanced at her watch.

'I better hurry or I'll be late. ‎But I'll call you later to work on the details for the New Year's Eve party.

New Year's Eve party? Oh right, she had been in charge of planning the event which was to take place at the Talon for the last three weeks. She'd completely forgotten about it. God, did he have to look at her like that?! His mother was in the room with them! How was she supposed to think straight under that stare? She could barely breathe, let alone form a coherent thought.

'Sure.' She was able to pull the word out of her constricted lungs.

'I'm off. Lunch is in the fridge.' She announced leaning in to kiss her son on the forehead.

'I'll be back later.'

Taking her car keys from the counter she left the house through the backdoor.

This was it. They were alone.

Their eyes met.

Clark's heart pounded furiously in his chest, he could almost feel his blood rushing through her veins.

'Hey...' She finally spoke.

'Hey...' He repeated; a goofy grin twisting his lips as he took a step forward.

She tentatively mirrored his action.

'So... hmm...' She began nervously shaking her wet bangs out of her eyes when she came to stand just a few inches from him.

'Yeah...' He gasped out; she was so close, all he could think about was reaching for her.

'About... yesterday...'

God, this was hard! It actually hurt to push out the words.

He waited; anxiety and exhilaration tearing through his chest clashing for dominance.

Clark's eyes dropped to the find her hand fiddling with the sleeve of her turtleneck sweater. Lois' gaze followed his and she forced her fingers to remain still.

She froze when she saw his hand moving towards hers.

If he touched her... she wouldn't be able to stop. She should back away. She should, but she didn't. Instead she held her breath as his index finger grazed over hers. Soon he was holding her hand in his, his thumbs sluggishly drawing circles over her soft skin.

Her eyelids dropped slightly under his touch.

'Smallville... we need to...' She faltered when she looked up and he was staring down at her with large darkened eyes.

Before she knew it his hand had travelled up to her wrist, giving it a quick tug and causing her to limply stumble into his chest.

This was helping...

She could feel his breath on her face as he leaned in closer. It sent a chill down to her stomach.

'Wait!'

'I can't.' His voice was deep and rough.

She was so close to giving in; she could feel her resolve wavering.

She needed to shake herself out of this thrall he had her under.

Setting her hand firmly on his chest she stepped back and inhaled sharply. That had been one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

He staggered when she fell out of reach.

'We need to talk.' She spoke as steadily as she could.

'Talk. Right.' He nodded trying to silence the voice that urged him to simply snatch her into his arms and put an end to the raw craving inside.

She was right, absolutely right. They needed to talk.

They remained silent, neither knowing where to start.

After twenty excruciating seconds she blurted with a nervous laugh:

'This is crazy. You and me? I mean... It's crazy!'

Oh-oh, this wasn't good.

'It's not crazy.' He interrupted her before she began one of her rants.

'We can't stand each other!' She pointed out exasperated.

'We seemed to get along quite well last night.' He countered.

Her eyes widened at his boldness. Since when was Clark bold?

'Tha-that was... that was... different.'

'Different how?!'

'Just different.'

Seeing the look on his face she let her shoulders drop in defeat before resuming:

'So we're a little attracted to each other.' She tried to reason.

He closed the gap between them and Lois felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room.

'A little?' He said in a low voice unable to ignore the obvious electricity coursing through him at her proximity.

She took a step back as she corrected herself:

'A lot.'

Confusion and uncertainty swarmed her brain.

'Maybe it's an after effect of-'

'Don't start, Lois!' He immediately cut her off. 'You know perfectly well this has nothing to do with that. Why won't you just admit it?'

'Admit what?'

'That there is something between us.'

She let out a frustrated sigh. She couldn't believe she was going to say it:

'And what if there is?'

His heart skipped a beat. Had she just admitted there was something?

'We can't do this...' She shook her head.

'Why not?!' He demanded.

'Why not?' She repeated. 'It would never work. We're too different. We're constantly bickering and getting on each other's nerves. We fight all the time over the most ridiculous things and-'

He tried to take a step towards her but her hand instantly came up to keep him at bay.

'Just stay there. I-I can't think straight when you're too close.'

'Lois, just let go...'

'Let go? Let go?! Well, tell me this - what about Chloe?'

'What about Chloe?'

Lois froze at the familiar voice coming from behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know it belonged to her cousin.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 25**

'So?' Chloe asked expectantly when neither of her friends spoke.

Lois just stood there looking like a deer caught in the headlights of a car; her brain drawing a blank.

After a couple of seconds Clark moved around her towards her cousin and started with a grave tone:

'There is something we have to tell you.'

That was enough to snap Lois out of her daze, her eyes instantly bugging out of their sockets. What was he doing?! He wasn't thinking of telling her, was he?

'What is it?'

Before Clark could say a word Lois had tactlessly slipped in between the two and was blurting:

'I need you to help out with the New Year's Eve party at the Talon.'

'That's it?' Chloe frowned looking suspiciously up at Clark who just stared back at her.

Lois secretly stepped on his toes eliciting a reluctant nod from him as confirmation.

'I know it's kind of a drag, but the last few days I haven't been able to get anything done and I'm really behind schedule.' Lois put on her best lost puppy look.

'Of course I'll help out. Just tell me what you need.'

Lois silently let out a breath she had been holding. She had bought it. Good.

Now that she'd calmed down, Lois noticed for the first time that Chloe was squirming in place, her hands solidly shoved in the pockets of her coat.

'What's up with the jiggle fest?' She asked.

'I've just really gotta go to the bathroom.' Chloe replied with a cheeky grin.

Oh, so that's why she was squirming.

'Just one sec.' The blonde apologized as she made her way up the stairs.

The moment she was out of sight Lois turned on her heels; her fist coming up to punch Clark on the arm.

'Hey! What was that for?'

'What were you doing? Were you going to tell her?' She hissed up at him.

'We don't have a choice. We have to tell her!' He insisted defensively.

'Who said we had to tell her anything? We haven't even decided if there's anything to tell?' She pointed out haughtily popping an eyebrow high on her forehead.

He tilted his head sideways at her.

'What?' She played coy.

His arm suddenly came around her waist and hauled her upwards while his free hand hooked itself under her ear and pulled her in for a wet kiss.

The moment she began to respond he let go of her and stepped back.

She was at a loss for a few seconds, trying hard to keep her balance when her knees felt like they were made out of putty.

Oh, there was definitely something to tell...

She looked up at him to find him with his arms crossed over his chest signalling that he'd made his point.

'I can't tell her now.' She whispered dropping her gaze.

Hope sparked in him. He tilted his head downwards to meet her stare as he choked out:

'So there is something to tell?'

Inhaling courage she looked up once more and closed the gap between them.

His heart jumped to his throat when she breathed:

'Yes.'

His mouth spread for a genuine smile of happiness, one she hadn't seen in a long time.

'Phew! That was clone.' Chloe exclaimed in relief coming down the stairs.

Lois quickly scrambled away from him.

'I'm back and I'm ready to work.' Chloe announced when she joined them in the kitchen. 'What do you need?'

'Hmm...' Lois was caught off guard. 'Well, the guest list is done, the invitations have been sent and I've already gotten most of the RSVP's so... That's taken care of. Everything else is kinda... not taken care of.'

Chloe rolled her eyes at her cousin.

'Ok, so let's see, what do we need for a party?'

'Food? Alcohol?' Lois offered.

'Catering. Good. There is this amazing company in Metropolis that catered our Christmas Party at the Planet. They were fantastic! We can drive there and check it out.' Chloe was in problem cracking mode and nothing was going to stop her.

'I think I got their card in here somewhere.'

Placing her bag on the kitchen table she began to go through it giving Lois the chance to look over her cousin's shoulder. Clark had a pleading expression on his face, his eyebrows coming together agonizingly high on his forehead as he mouthed:

'Don't go.'

'I have to.' She mouthed back with the same painful expression.

'Please.'

'Here it is.' Chloe's head popped up and she handed Lois the card.

'Great.' Lois said with fake eagerness.

'Let's go then.'

'Ok. I'll just go pick up my crutches. I'll meet you in the car.'

'Ok. Bye, Clark.' Chloe threw over her shoulder before leaving.

His arms were unexpectedly wrapped around her hoisting her up against his chest.

'Don't go.' He begged and she had to swallow dryly.

How was she supposed to say no to that?

'I have to.' She mumbled, her attention dropping to his mouth.

'No, you don't.'

'Yes, I do.'

'Yeah, you do...' He agreed unenthusiastically.

'I'll be back later.' She promised enthralled by his lips.

He had very nice lips. Why wasn't he using them to kiss her already?

As if he had heard her complain he leaned in and pressed his mouth against hers. What had started as an innocent peck quickly escalated into a hungry kiss as his tongue slipped into her mouth to meet hers.

Soon she found herself sitting on the kitchen table, Clark's hips trapped between her legs.

When hands came into play, their combined mewls, groans and heavy pants overwhelmed the silence in the room. His fingers wedged themselves under her sweater to rub her lower back.

'Clark...' She moaned when she managed to pull away from the kiss. 'I have to...'

His mouth seized her lower lip and suckled at it while his hand moved around and up the side of her ribcage. His thumb grazed the underside of her breast causing a liquid wave of heat to flow from her core and spread through her body.

'Clark... please...' She gulped in air, feeling extremely light-headed. 'Chloe-Hmm...' She was silenced by his ravenous mouth once again.

She could help giving into him.

Her hands, which until now had remained crushed between their chests, moved across his stomach, down to the top of his jeans; one slipped under his shirt, the other moved further south.

'God! Lois!' He swore dropping his head on her shoulder when he felt her cup him through the denim.

As a response, his hazed mind commanded his wandering thumb to move upwards to rub the hard nub of flesh over her breast.

While his mouth found her earlobe, their hands began massaging in perfect synchronicity.

'Clark... that feels...so...'

'I want you Lois.' He gasped in her ear when she squeezed him through his jeans.

BIP! BIP!

The sudden honking felt like a giant anvil dropping on their heads.

'Chloe... I have to go.' She let go of him and he let out a frustrated growl before dropping his hand from her breast. 'I'll be back as soon as possible.'

'You better.' He warned her pulling her off the table and gently placing her on the floor.

'I promise.'

He watched her go into the living room, retrieve her crutches and come back. On the way she snuck a couple of chocolate bars into her purse.

'I think I'm gonna need those.' She gave him a devilish smile.

'And I think I'm gonna need a couple of showers.' He grinned back.

He couldn't ignore the excitement rustling in his chest. He was actually giddy. Lois had made him giddy for the first time in years. He hadn't felt this since... since high school.

'Bye.'

She leaned in for a quick peck. Just a quick one. She didn't want to have it turn into another make out scene. Well, actually, she wouldn't mind but she had Chloe waiting in the car, she had to go.

'Bye.' He returned watching her as she limped out of the house.

With some effort she made her way to the car. Chloe was leaning against it and opened the passenger door the moment Lois approached.

'What took you so long?' She inquired taking the crutches from her cousin and helping her settle in.

'I couldn't find them.' Lois lied trying hard to stop from grinning.

But she couldn't help it. She was happy.

**Chapter 26**

She was completely worn out. Walking around the streets of Metropolis with her crutches for over five hours had taken its toll on her.

Exhausted she pushed the car door open when it came to a halt. Chloe was at her side in a flash, holding the crutches as he cousin slipped out.

'I'm never doing that again.' She grumbled giving her cousin a deadly glare.

'I'm sorry for pushing you. But at least you got almost everything done for the party.' Chloe tried to focus on the bright side, but Lois wouldn't have it.

Grumbling something under her breath she limped her way up the Kent's front steps.

She let out a sigh of relief when she stepped inside. She could feel her pulse picking up speed at the prospect of seeing him.

The two came to an abrupt stop when they entered the hall to find Clark and Abby sitting at the kitchen table.

Various books were scattered over the flat surface, but the two seemed interested in one book in particular as they leaned over it.

'See I told you the answer to that one was C.' Abby spoke triumphantly, giving him a huge grin.

Lois felt like crawling out of her skin when she saw Abby's hand resting on his shoulder.

'We're back.' Chloe's voice caused Clark to jerk his head up and instantly meet Lois' cold stare.

'H-hi!' He replied nervously wiggling away from Abby.

'Hi.' Chloe greeted back with a smile as she walked in the kitchen closely followed by an eerily silent Lois.

'Hmm... Chloe, this is Abby. Abby, Chloe.' Clark introduced his gaze never leaving Lois.

'Nice to meet you.' Chloe extended her hand.

'Likewise.' Abby responded by shaking the hand that was offered to her.

Turning to Clark Chloe asked:

'Is your mom home?'

'No. She called to say she'd be a little late. She was stuck in a meeting.' Clark answered absentmindedly.

He could tell by the way Lois was fisting her hands that he was in deep trouble.

'I really wanted to say hi. Well, I'll probably see her at the party. I have to go. Jimmy's waiting for me.' Chloe's cheeks reddened a bit at what she said next: 'It's our two month anniversary.'

'That's great.' Clark smiled.

'Congratulations.' Abby spoke in.

What the hell was she yapping about? She didn't even know who Jimmy was, why was she butting in with her scrawny non-existing butt! Lois felt her blood start to boil.

'Yeah, he's got this whole evening planed out.' Chloe's grin grew wider as she clung to the strap of her purse. 'I better go. Bye.'

'Bye, Chloe.'

'Have fun.' Abby spoke.

'Thanks.'

With that she was gone and the three were left in silence in the kitchen.

'So, I see we're studying... again. How diligent!' Lois' words were dripping with disdain.

Turning to Clark she asked: 'Why here? And why are you studying?'

Before he could answer Abby stepped in with an aggravating sugary tone:

'Didn't you know? Clark's coming back to college next semester.'

Lois' eyes widened in shock.

'Since when?'

'Oh, for a while now. I've been helping him out with-'

'Listen, stick-girl, I wasn't talking to you. So just zip it and go read something.' Lois snarled.

'Hey!' Abby protested standing up straight to her full height.

Lois scoffed, easily towering over her measly five feet. Clark quickly slipped in between the two glaring girls. Facing Abby he suggested:

'It's kinda late, maybe you should go.'

'But we haven't finished correcting the test.' She whined.

'We'll finish up some other day.'

'Like heel, you will.' He heard Lois mutter under her breath.

Abby's looked over his shoulder to stare daggers in Lois' direction before she started picking up her books and forcefully shoved them into her backpack. When she was done she flung it over her shoulder.

'I'll walk you out.' Clark offered letting her pass.

Before following her he turned around and whispered:

'Stay here.'

Lois simply made a face, rolling her eyes at him.

She watched from afar as they said their goodbyes. Lois automatically began storming towards them when Abby rose up on her toes and placed a kiss on Clark's cheek.

Clark acted quickly, closing the door and putting his body between it and the fuming Lois.

Walking passed him she gritted between clenched teeth:

'I am going to kick that scrawny ass from here to- Let go of me!' She demanded when his arm came from behind to wrap itself around her waist preventing her from taking another step.

She kicked the air a couple of times before relenting.

When he was certain she was relaxed enough he released her.

She turned around and threw him a murderous look and punched him in the arm.

'No more study sessions.'

'But she was helping me catch up with material I missed.'

'Was CPR on one of your courses?' She arched an eyebrow at him.

He frowned.

'The kissing fest last night.'

His eyes grew large at the accusation.

'That was hardly a kissing fest. We were under the mistletoe. A-and she was the one who kissed me!' He defended himself.

'Oh, you poor helpless thing!' She taunted for a second before her face gained a more grave expression and she punched him again.

'Stop that!'

'Get someone else to help; preferably someone with a Y chromosome!' She added still mad.

His lips curved for a lopsided smile.

'What?' She demanded.

He didn't even have to answer.

'I am NOT jealous!' She warned him with an accusing index finger poking at his chest.

'Yes, you are.' He grinned broadly.

She looked so cute when she was angry.

'No, I'm not.'

He closed the gap between them, his hands coming to rest on her hips.

'You're jealous...' His voice was soft and teasing.

'No, I'm not.' She pouted.

'Admit it.'

He leaned in, his lips hovering over hers without touching.

'I'm not.' she gasped out suddenly out of breath.

'You just don't like her.' He remembered her excuse from the previous night.

'Yes.'

Her eyes narrowed as her lids grew heavy.

'Ok.' He abruptly stood up straight and backed away leaving her a bit disconcerted and flustered. 'If you say so.'

It took a few seconds for her to regain her composure. When she did she brought her fist up and punched him in the arm.

'What was that for?'

'You know exactly what it was for.'

'Come here!' He smirked sweeping her off her feet and into his arms causing her to let out a surprised yelp. He walked around the couch and sat down with her firmly planted on his lap.

When he moved in to kiss her she pulled away.

'No way. You're not getting any, Mr.' She said with fake gravity.

'Oh, come on. Don't be like that.' He muttered nuzzling her ear.

She snapped her head away from him when she began to feel light-headed.

'No.' She insisted. 'Maybe Annie is available.'

'Abby.'

'Whatever.'

He tried to move in and once more she evaded him.

He went for a third try and this time his hand hooked itself on the nape of her neck and forced her to keep still as his lips captured her earlobe.

She closed her eyes and let out a soft groan as she felt herself melt under his ministrations.

'I don't want her.' She heard him murmur between licks. 'I want you.'

Her eyes rolled back as he abandoned her ear and attacked the column of her neck.

Turning, she straddled his hips, placing her hands over his chest as she arched into him.

It was overwhelming, exciting and terrifying at the same time. It was daunting just how easily she could lose herself in him, in this feeling, this insane craving.

She had no control. She needed to have some control over this. So she did what she knew best - she talked her way through it.

'So...' She started. '... you're going back to...' gulp '...college, huh?'

'Uh-huh...'

'That-that's... hmm... good.'

'Yeah.'

He continued to play with her ear, driving her insane.

One hand dropped down to the small of her back, digging into her hip and pulling her in. The other smoothly travelled up and settled on the crook of her neck. He used it to direct her head sideways, giving him better access.

'Do you... Ah... know your...'

God, it was hard to concentrate with him doing that thing with his tongue!

'…major, yet?' She miraculously was able to finish.

'No.' He replied succinctly.

His hand tilted her head forward while his tongue traced up her jaw until he found her mouth. That put a definite end to the conversation.

He pushed into her mouth, seeking out the feel of her tongue and let out a moan when he found it.

Out of its own accord her body began surging against his, pushing their hips closer, pressing her pelvis into his and eliciting a guttural growl from him.

He reacted instinctively thrusting up into her.

'Ouch!' She yelped.

He immediately tore his mouth from hers, his eyes snapping open, large with fear.

'Did I hurt you?'

'No, it's just my ankle.' She assured him, looking down at her ailing foot. 'It got stuck between the cushions of the couch.'

She was lifted off of him and tenderly placed on the couch in a heartbeat.

'Are you sure?' He asked kneeling next to her.

'Smallville, I'm fine.' She insisted with a frown.

'I didn't mean to hurt you.'

He had the strangest look of pain and guilt marring his perfect features.

'You didn't.'

Her lips curled for a sly grin as she looked her hands behind his neck and began drawing him in. To her surprise he pulled away.

'I'm gonna get some ice for you foot.' He blurted out fretfully making his way into the kitchen.

'But I'm...' She paused in mid sentence realising he wasn't listening to her. '...fine.' She finished with a frustrated pout.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 27**

He leaned forward against the refrigerator door trying to catch his breath.

What was he doing? He couldn't do this. He had been so wrapped up in his feelings for her he never thought of the consequences. Over the last few weeks, especially the last couple of days, all he could think about was winning her over, getting her to admit that there was something between them. He never thought passed that point. Now he was in a relationship with Lois. There was nothing stopping them from...

How was he supposed to be with her without actually _being_ with her when his body reacted so strongly to her nearness?

It had been hard enough fighting off Lana's advances when they had been together, but with Lois? It was going to be impossible!

Even now as she sat all the way on the other side of the house his senses were completely attune to her every intake of air, to every beat of her heart.

'How's that ice coming, Smallville?' She yelled from the living room.

'Just a second.' He lightly hit his head on the fridge before opening it and retrieving the ice.

As he went about finding a towel to wrap it with his mind tried to piece together a strategy.

He wasn't about to give up on them. He couldn't even if he wanted to. He would just have to find a way, he finally decided walking out of the kitchen with a determined stride.

He faltered when he came near; her scent immediately assaulted him causing a strange heat to spread from his gut. This was going to be hard.

She gave him a toothy smile and he had to repress a groan.

Very hard.

Kneeling down he placed the towel-covered ice on her ankle.

'Better?' He inquired not daring to look up at her.

'I told you it was fine but that feels good.'

Her hand came to rest on his bicep and his grip on the ice tightened. He could hear it crack under the added pressure.

Thankfully the sound of the front door opening echoed through the house and Lois' hand immediately dropped from his arm.

'Hey, kids.' Martha greeted a bit breathless. 'What happened?' She immediately questioned when she saw Lois on the couch, Clark holding a towel over her ankle.

'I just got my foot caught between the sofa cushions.' Lois explained. 'It's fine.'

'Are you sure?' Martha knelt down to inspect the injured joint.

It didn't look swollen.

'Yes.' She assured.

'You should stay off of that foot for the rest of the night.'

'It's not that bad.' Lois insisted.

Martha only had to give her a look for Lois to reluctantly nod her agreement.

'I'll get started on dinner. Clark, can you help me?' Martha asked over her shoulder on her way to the kitchen.

'Sure.' He replied.

Getting up he moved to give her a peck on her forehead. Before he could react her hand had gripped the lapels of his shirt and had pulled him down for a bruising kiss. His eyes snapped open, darting toward his mother who thankfully was with her back turned to them.

The feel of her tongue against his sent chills down his spine and was making him dizzy.

When she finally let him go he was completely flustered, mouth gaping open, lips swollen and heart racing.

Awkwardly he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans in a pathetic attempt to hide the evidence of his body's response to the kiss.

It was going to be very hard...

'_Definitely very hard_.' he thought as he tried to make his way into the kitchen without faltering.

'Dinner was great.' Lois thanked wiping her mouth on her napkin.

'Thanks, Lois.' Martha smiled, her eyes remaining on the younger woman a couple of seconds longer than necessary.

'What?' She asked when she noticed the scrutinizing look.

'Nothing.' Martha shook her head giving her a knowing smile.

It made Lois' stomach cramp up. Did she know?!

Lois followed her with her eyes as she stood up, took the last two glasses off the table and handed them to Clark who was now washing the dishes.

'Do you have any clothes that need washing?' She asked her son. 'Cause I'm going to do the laundry.'

He shook his head.

'Ok. I'll be in the basement if you need me.' She announced walking out of the room.

Lois was hobbling her way into the kitchen the second she was gone.

'We have a problem.' She hissed nervously.

'What?'

'I think your mom knows.' She sounded desperate.

'My mom?'

'Yes, your mom!' She exclaimed anxiously rubbing her hands against her jeans.

'Knows what?'

'About us!' She gritted.

He finished running the last glass through the water, placed it next to the sink and switched off the faucet turning to face her with a towel between his hands.

'Why do you say that?'

'Cause she was giving me this - _I know what you've been doing look_!' She blurted in a low voice.

Clark smirked at her:

'The _I know what you've been doing look_?'

'Yes!'

'Lois, she doesn't know anything and even if she did would it be that bad?'

'Yes!' She widened her eyes at him.

'Why?' He asked in disbelief flinging the towel toward the counter.

'Because she'll feel betrayed. I mean, she helped me when I needed the most, gave me a job, a roof to live under and what do I do to repay her? I seduce her only son!'

'You didn't exactly seduce me. If there was any seducing I'd say it was the other way around, don't you think?'

'That's not how she's going to see it. She sees you as her perfect little altar boy slash boy scout. You could do no wrong. I, one the other hand, will be playing the staring role of skanky cradle snatching ho in this seedy little drama!

'Ok, first of all – I'm not underage. Second – you're what? A year older than me? And thirdly – my mom loves you. She would never see anything seedy in us being together. If anything I'm sure she'd be very happy.' Clark argued giving her a reassuring smiling.

She was so jittery it was cute. The way she was squirming in her place, her hands rigidly pressed against her thighs, her cheeks tinted with the sweetest shade of pink made her look so vulnerable and very cute.

He stiffened as the warm fuzzy feeling building in him escalated to something less innocent.

'I'm not so sure.' She mumbled still a bit hesitant.

'Come here.' He smiled wrapping his large arms around her, making her feel so small and sheltered.

She was quickly learning that she really loved his bear hugs. They made her want to curl up into a ball and get lost in the safety of his arms. She buried her face in his chest, nuzzling up against him and inhaling his scent.

'This is nice.' He heard her muffled words. 'I like this.'

'I like this too.' He closed his eyes and rested his chin on top of her head.

He held his breath when he felt her loosen her hold on him, her hands slipping up under the fabric of his shirt to roam over his back.

He could do this, he told himself closing his eyes tightly shut.

_'Just think of something else.'_

Her hands came around his side to graze his stomach.

His eyes snapped open when she suddenly pushed him, forcefully backing him up against the sink, her mouth attacking his skin.

'This is nice too.' She whispered between open-mouth kisses that tracked up his neck to his earlobe.

'Uh-huh...' He managed to gruffly mumble through his hazy mind, his lids falling shut, his mouth open.

Her nails raked over his stomach while her teeth captured his earlobe.

_'You can do this. You can do this.'_ He tried to summon the mantra in his brain but it completely eluded him when her hand suddenly dropped below his belt line.

'Lois!' He immediately jerked away from her.

That was one thing he couldn't do. If he went down that road there was no stopping.

'My mom…' He gasped.

'Oh, right! I-I'm sorry.' She blushed trying to catch her breath.

It was very hard considering how he looked right know, all flustered, wide eyed, ragged shirt, tight jeans... actually, they looked a little tighter than usual.

_'Get your mind out of the gutter, girl!'_ Lois ordered her lust filled mind, puffing her bangs out of her face.

'I-I should... hmm... I should go to bed.' She stuttered, but she didn't move.

She couldn't. Neither could he. So they just stood there. Breathing heavily and erratically, longingly staring at one another on opposite sides of the kitchen.

'Lois, what are you doing up?' Martha's voice was filled with concern as she entered the room. 'I told you to stay off that foot.'

'I know. I was just saying goodnight to Smallville.'

'You're going to bed?'

'Yes, I'm kinda tired. I haven't been sleeping very well.'

'Yes, I know, that seems to be happening a lot around here lately.'

Clark and Lois couldn't ignore the undertone in Martha's words.

Exhaling sharply Lois put on her trademark tight grin as she spoke.

'Well, goodnight! I'll-'

'You're not going anywhere on that foot, young lady.' Martha interrupted, giving Clark a raised eyebrow she added: 'Especially not up those stairs. Clark?'

'Uh? Oh, right.'

Clumsily, he crossed the kitchen. Their eyes met just for a second, but it was enough to send chills up and down her spine as he bent down and effortlessly scooped her into his arms making his way up the stairs in silence.

**Chapter 28**

Letting out a heavy sigh, he sat on the couch, face buried in his hands.

He had literarily dropped her off in her bed about an hour ago. After an awkward moment of silence he had muttered goodnight and scurried out of there without even giving her a goodnight kiss. He didn't think he could handle it. It had been hard enough enduring her proximity as he'd made his way up the stairs with her in his arms, kissing her would have been the end of him.

So now he was there, on the couch, frustratingly wondering why he couldn't just switch off his abilities when he wanted to. And why they were so attuned to what was going on upstairs.

Dropping his hands to his lap he directed his attention to the TV screen. Some random show was on. He didn't really care what it was as long as it kept him occupied. Unfortunately for his peace of mind, the actors' voices progressively morphed into the noise of water falling that came from the upstairs bathroom. At that a succession of pictures flashed in his mind. He tried to shake it off, but his brain seemed intent on delivering these vivid images of Lois taking a shower.

He exhaled sharply once again. He wasn't going to get any sleep tonight either, was he? What was this? The third sleepless night in a row? Or was it the fourth? He'd lost count.

Changing strategies he tried to focus on his mother, who was walking around in the kitchen, but it wasn't long before the sound of Lois' breathing sneaked its way into his senses.

He frowned when he noticed her even heartbeat gradually picking up speed until it became a rapid and unpredictable pounding in his ears. Her breathing pattern had also transformed into a series of shallow, rushed pants.

Something was happening! Lois was in trouble. He had to-

He froze in place as her moan reverberated in his ear. THAT was definitely not a moan of fear or pain.

His eyes bulged out as he realised just what was going on.

She was... Lois was...

_'Oh, God!'_ She groaned out in a husky voice that made him gulp.

His gaze darted to his mother. She had finished up in the kitchen and was heading into the living room, her reading glasses in one hand, a book in the other.

Maybe he could sneak out to the barn before... His eyes dropped to his lap.

_Too late!_

Instantly, he reached for the nearest cushion and hastily covered his lap with it giving his mother a tight uncomfortable grin as she took her seat on the comfort chair on the opposite end of the couch.

She smiled back, putting on her glasses and opening the book.

In the meantime, Lois' mewls had intensified and he could now also discriminate the sound of water splashing frantically.

The muscles in his jaw twitched and he bit down on a moan while he envisioned just what the source of that splashing was.

Even though his eyes were wide open and directed at the TV screen all he could see in front of him was Lois – slanted against the shower wall, water cascading down her naked body, mouth gaping open, gasping for air, one hand on her breast, the other buried between her thighs labouring diligently.

This time he couldn't help but groan.

Thankfully his mother was too engrossed in her reading to notice, or maybe it was the sound coming from the TV set that helped mask his harsh breathing pattern.

Whatever it was, he wasn't sure it would continue to be effective if the current situation carried on any further.

He had to get out of there before...

_'Oh, God... harder...'_

He clawed at the cushion feeling the pressure build up. This couldn't be happening. Not here, not with his mother in the room.

But she was breathing so hard and those mewls...

He never knew his imagination could be so active, but considering the soundtrack he couldn't blame his brain for providing such stunning visual support.

He was sweating, actually sweating. He could feel the drops of liquid running down his temple and his back.

_'Please... don't stop...'_

'Never...' The whispered word tumbled out of his mouth without permission.

'Did you say something, honey?'

'Huh, what? No! Must be the TV.' Clark nervously mumbled.

Martha's gaze lingered on her son for a couple of seconds before returning to her book.

He swallowed dryly as he mentally returned to that bathroom.

_'Right there... that's_ _it... ah!'_

His eyes rolled into the back of his skull as he lost himself in her rasping voice. To hell with it!

He could tell she was nearing the end as the sounds that came out of her turned into a frenzied assortment of mindless babble, heavy gasps and ravenous grunts.

He tried hard to keep still and quiet. It was killing him as the strain became unbearable. Unwittingly, he pressed the cushion into his lap, his hips rubbing up against it as his body instinctively searching for some release.

_'I want you...ah! …so much...'_

His lips pursed and he clenched his teeth, trying to suppress the scream building up in his chest. Her breath hitched in her throat for a moment and then finally she cried out:

_'Ah!... Clark...'_

His body stiffened at the sound of his name, his grip on the cushion tightened causing it to explode in his hands as the pleasure surged through him.

When he came to he was engulfed in a cloud of feathers, his mother's concerned voice which seemed to echo in the distance slowly growing clearer:

'Clark! Are you alright?'

His eyes eventually focused on the redhead woman sitting up straight in the comfort chair, staring perplexed at him.

'Um... I-I'm sorry... mom... I was just...'

His cheeks burned bright red, he was sweating profusely. Could it be that he was sick again?

'Clark!'

His eyes dropped to find a mess in his lap. Without a word he resorted to his super-speed and disappeared into the downstairs bathroom.

Slamming the door shut behind him he leaned on it for a while, trying to catch his breath. He couldn't believe what had just happened.

'Oh, my God!' He rasped between harsh pants.

He could still hear her breathing as it evened out, her heartbeat gradually returning to its normal rhythm.

He looked at himself in the mirror. He was flushed, his shirt was glued to his torso from his sweat, the front of his jeans was soaked with a few feathers sticking to the denim here and there.

He needed new clean clothes. Problem was all of them were in his room. He had to move fast, while she was still in the shower.

A light knock on the door brought him back to reality.

'Clark?'

'Ye-' He cleared his throat. 'Yes, mom?'

'Are you alright? You're not coming down with something again?'

'No, I'm fine.'

'You don't sound fine. Clark, let me in.'

'Mom, I'm fine.' He tried to assure her.

'Clark Kent, you open this door now!'

He gulped, hitting the back of his head against the door. Inhaling, he quickly pulled his shirt off, used it to wipe off the feathers and then strategically held it over his crotch as he cracked the door open and popped his head out.

'Clark, what happened?' His mother asked trying to walk into the bathroom, but the door wouldn't budge.

She eyed him, or at least what little she could see of him - his bright red face and a glimpse of a bare shoulder.

'I-I just dozed off... I-I was having a nightmare. That's all!'

He hated lying to his mother.

He watched as she processed the information. It seemed like a logical explanation.

'Do you want to talk about it?'

'No, mom. I'm fine now. I just need to get changed before Lois gets out of the shower.'

And with that he hastily slipped out of the bathroom and rushed up the stairs leaving his mother downstairs to wonder if he had just woken up from a nightmare...

'How does he know Lois is in the bathroom?'


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 29**

Lois froze when she opened the door to her bedroom and was greeted by a half naked Clark standing right smack in the middle of it.

She blinked a couple of times unsure if she was hallucinating.

Clark rushed to pull on his clean pair of jeans, the old and dirty ones discarded on the floor along with his underwear, shirt and his shoes.

He stiffened in place when the door opened to reveal a drenched, towel-wrapped Lois.

His eyes bulged at the sight of her.

Her eyes took in his state of undress. He was barefoot, his unfastened jeans riding low and exposing his sharp hip bones. But what really caught her attention was his bare chest.

She gulped dryly, her hand still on the door handle growing instantly damp.

'Clark...' She paused when her voice came out husky and needy and tried again: 'Clark, what are you doing here?'

It took a while for his brain to process the fact that she had just asked him a question and that he should be providing her with some sort of an explanation:

'I was... just...'

His gaze inadvertently tracked one single drop of water as it travelled over her collarbone, around the swell of her breast to finally dip down the middle of her ample chest.

_'Focus!_' He ordered his brain blinking a couple of times before answering:

'I needed to change.'

God, that had come out a little too hoarse!

This was too awkward! Being there, seeing her glowing and knowing the exact cause of that colour in her cheeks. Seeing her after what had just... after what he had just...

And wasn't he supposed to feel a little better having just done THAT? Some sort of release? Some soothing after effect? Maybe a little tired?

Why was he still craving her this much? Why was his body still responding to the sight and smell of her? Why was his body urging him to pounce on her and take her?

This wasn't normal! She could feel the heat building between her legs. She was supposed to be fulfilled, satisfied not feeling this... this...

Jesus! Clark Kent had turned her into a sex addicted freak!

Feeling the draft coming from behind her she entered the room fully and closed the door.

'I'm sorry, I-I'll just be a second.' He stuttered dropping his gaze to his crotch quickly buttoning himself in.

'Um... It's ok! I mean it's not like we haven't seen each other in less clothing before... you know! Plus, it is technically your room, so... You have every right to be here. It is your room.'

She was babbling and she was repeating herself.

Damn, she sounded like an idiot! She hated that he could turn her into a babbling idiot. This wasn't her! She was cool, calm and unfazed. Not horny, helpless and flustered.

Inhaling deeply, she forced out a laugh. It painfully echoed in the silent room and she felt herself blush under his stare.

'Do you mind?' Her finger rotated in mid air signalling her wish for him to turn around so she could change.

'Oh, right! I'm sorry.'

He clumsily did as he was asked.

He waited patiently. He could picture the towel dropping to the floor when he heard a dull thumping sound.

_'She's naked! Lois Lane is naked right behind you, in your room, next to your bed!'_ His brain screamed at him.

The rustling of clothes seemed booming as she frantically pushed and pulled at the bedspread trying to dig out her pyjama. She leaned over when she saw the shirt over at the other end of the mattress. Unfortunately, in her rush she stumbled on one of his shoes and came crashing onto the bed.

'Are you o-'

'Don't you dare turn around, Smallville!' She shouted from her compromising position, sprawled naked on his bed.

'Are you sure? I heard-'

'I'm fine!' She quickly cut him off struggling to reach for the shirt but eventually snatching it into her hands.

She quickly slipped it on and hurried with the task of buttoning it up.

'There! You can turn around.' She said the words before realising she hadn't put anything else on, including her underwear.

_'Crap!_

Their eyes met once more. Her heart was threatening to jump out of her mouth.

He couldn't help holding his breath seeing her there, sitting on his bed, wearing his shirt, her wet hair cascading down the sides of her face.

God, she'd never looked as sexy as she did right now!

Someone up there really didn't like him and really wanted him to fail at his self imposed celibacy. This had surpassed cruel and unusual to build a whole new level of torture.

The silence and the way he was undressing her with his eyes was getting to her and were making her growingly aware of the fact that she wasn't wearing any underwear.

Her problem?

Clark was standing in front of the wardrobe where she kept her undergarments.

_'No problem. You can do this.'_ She told herself lightly jumping off the bed.

While still favouring her injured leg she confidently hobbled across the bedroom in his direction, coming to a halt in front of him.

'Do you mind?' She tried to sound as undaunted as possible.

She wasn't doing a very good job at it.

'Sorry.' He mumbled stepping aside.

It was very hard to walk when his jeans seemed to suddenly shrink on him.

He watched as she awkwardly bent down and opened a drawer.

His eyes widened when he noticed its contents. If possible they grew even larger when his brain pieced together the bits of information to come to the brilliant conclusion that if she was going through her underwear drawer that meant that...

_'She's not wearing anything under the shirt.'_

Lois was naked under his shirt! Standing just a few inches from him!

That was it! He officially could not move, not without tearing an embarrassing hole into his jeans.

'Um... Clark, do you mind?' She asked giving him an arched eyebrow.

He froze. He couldn't move and he couldn't just stand there while she was slipping on her thong. Yes, because she had to pick out a thong to wave around in front of him! It was like she was doing it on purpose.

Slowly, he literarily turned on his heels.

He let out a breath he had been holding when he managed to do it without anything tearing.

It seemed to take forever but eventually he heard her say:

'All done. You can turn around now.'

He was a little more comfortable now and was able to face her without much of a problem.

Thankfully she was completely covered. She still had his shirt and had added a pair of old sweats and her bunny slippers.

'So...' She began.

'Yeah...'

'We seem to have mastered the art of awkward silences over the last few days, haven't we?'

Her straight to the point, snarky attitude seemed to lighten the mood a bit; at least that remark had gotten a half smile out of him.

'Yeah, I guess so.' He replied shyly shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

The innocent movement caused the muscles in his arms to bulge out and Lois tried to ignore it.

It wasn't easy.

'You never were one to keep up with your share of the conversation, were you?'

He just smiled.

'Smallville, you're not helping.'

_'Stop staring at his chest!'_

'What do you want me to say?' He questioned naively.

'I don't know. Anything.'

_'Stop staring and breathe.'_

'I don't care as long as there is no silence.' She was starting to lose her ability to keep her breathing even.

She could see the muscles in his arms twitching as he buried his hands deeper in his jeans.

'It's really starting to get to me and-and-' she snapped '-Oh! For God's sake you're doing that on purpose!'

'What?!' He exclaimed not understanding the accusation.

'You can quit flaunting now!'

'Flaunting? What are you talking about I-'He stopped in mid sentence noticing for the first time that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

He had been so absorbed in her being naked he didn't even realise that so was he.

'Cause two can play at that game.'

'What?' His eyes darted up to see Lois undoing the top buttons of her shirt. 'No! No, no, no, no.'

His hands were desperately pulling the lapels of her shirt closed before he could stop himself.

'No, clothes stay on!'

He wasn't prepared for what she said next.

'Why?'

It was a murmur but it seemed to echo loudly as silence took over the room once again and it dawned on them both just how close together they were standing.

When her hands flattened on his bare chest he couldn't find any plausible answer for her question.

Truth was that _'clothes off'_ was the mantra pounding away in his brain at that moment as their gazes locked and he could see his own lust and desire reflected in her eyes. Right there he knew – she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her.

**Chapter 30**

Without warning, the two seemed to lunge at each other simultaneously, tumbling to the bed in a heap of limbs pawing at their clothes as their mouths smashed together for a greedy kiss.

Somehow all the doubts and hesitation swarming Clark's mind were replaced by yearning, craving, the desperate need be closer to her. He couldn't take it anymore. He needed to be inside her.

They moved frenziedly, undulating and grinding each others hips together, their tongues hastily sliding in and out of their mouths. His fingers hooked on the top of her sweats and easily pulled them down; her skilled legs did the rest of the work, toeing them off when they bunched around her ankles.

Once her flesh was exposed his hands were free to explore the softness of her skin just like hers were zealously travelling up and down his torso.

She couldn't believe this was finally happening.

Her mouth sucked hard at his tongue when his denim-clad thigh slipped between hers and pressed up against her sex. She couldn't stop her body's instinctual 

reaction to the feeling as it immediately tried to increase the friction, grinding down on his leg.

The muffled and urgent sounds coming out of her mouth were making him harder. He loved knowing that he was the cause of that mewl, that groan, that...

His mind stopped when he felt her hand drop to the fastening of his jeans. In a blink of an eye she had all the buttons popped open and was sliding inside, easily finding her goal.

'God! Lois!' He hissed arching his neck, his eyes closed tightly, his teeth painfully clenched together when her hand wrapped itself around him.

As she began to sluggishly pump him matching the rhythm with which she moved against his thigh she nibbled at his throat.

The pressure built inside him, a delicious wave of heat washing over his body, making him extremely hot and causing him to break into a sweat. But something seemed to change in him when he felt the scorching fire concentrate behind his eyelids. He frowned.

What was that? That felt like-

'Gaw-ah!' He grunted out in pleasure when she tightened her grip on him and gave him a harder tug.

His eyes snapped open and unexpectedly two perfect charred holes appeared in his ceiling. Instantly, he closed his eyes again, fear taking over, fear of hurting her. This was what happened when he crossed the line. People around him got hurt.

His hands gripped at her arms trying to get her attention, and specially trying to get her to stop moving that expert hand of hers.

'Lois...' He rasped; his voice a mixture of terror, pleasure and frustration.

But she was too engrossed in his earlobe to notice.

'Lois... please... stop...'

His hand found hers and gently pulled at it until she eventually stopped.

When he finally felt that he had his powers under control he opened his eyes – she was frowning down at him.

'Lois, we can't...'

Her half open mouth was distracting him.

'We can't do this...'

Those perfect lips, red and slightly swollen from him kissing her so hard.

Where was he? Right, had to stop this! Why was that again?

His gaze found the two holes in the ceiling.

_'Because of that._' He remembered sitting up straight and bringing her with him to straddle his hips.

'My mom... she's...'

Lois' mouth shut him up, her tongue helping out in the task by assaulting his and teasing it to come out and play.

'Hmm...' He tore his mouth away, leaving them both panting. 'Wait, just wait!' He pleaded desperately but he didn't make a move to stop her when her hands came down and in one fluid motion slipped the shirt off of her.

His jaw dropped at the sight of her - naked, wearing only a minuscule black thong sitting on his lap with her legs tightly wrapped around him.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her breasts. They were... they were...

For the final blow to dig him in, her hand caught his right one and brought it to her left breast, urging him to knead the tender mound.

This wasn't fair. She was playing dirty, how was he supposed to fight this... how was he...?

Out of its own accord his fingers tightened around her breast and he couldn't ignore the hoarse mewl that came out of her.

But something in him still resisted, she could feel it, so she leaned in and captured his lips once again; suckling his lower lip, then his top one, urging him on until they were kissing feverishly.

'Lois... um...' He refused to give in. '...stop... We need to... '

'I can't...' He heard her breathe in his ear. 'I want you... so much...'

'I shouldn't... I could hurt...'

It was impossible to speak with her naked chest plastered against his, the feel of her soft breast under his hand, her wet tongue slipping into his ear.

'... don't want to... ah!... hurt you.'

'You won't...'

Even though he was aware of the fact that she didn't really know what he was talking about something in the conviction with which she said it, her unwavering tone made him relax; something told him it would be ok.

'Please... I want you, Clark.'

The raspy need in her voice was what caused him to cave in.

Letting go of his demons, his left hand weaved itself into her soaked hair in the back of her skull, tilting her head back and exposing her neck. He trailed hungry open mouth kisses down her throat, eagerly sucking and nibbling at her skin, over her collarbone and down her chest until he found one pebbled nipple.

His tongue gently licked around it as his fingers continued to massage her breast directing it upwards to give his mouth more leverage.

With his lips locked around the hard nub of flesh, he suckled at it, his teeth lightly grazing over it teasingly.

He felt her arch back, thrusting her pelvis into his, urgently rubbing herself against his crotch causing his eyes roll into the back of his head.

He could hear her groan out his name between soft cries, it was driving him insane. He'd never felt so helpless and in control at the same time; never this happy, never this complete, this powerful.

'Ouch!' Lois frowned when she felt the back of her head bump into something.

She froze when her eyes opened. Her heart jumped to her throat.

She looked up and down, alternating rapidly between the ceiling which was about two inches from her nose and the bed which was all the way down there!

They were floating in midair!

What the hell?!

'Clark...' She tried to speak but quickly found that she had lost her voice.

Bump, bump.

In terror she brought one hand to rest against the ceiling to prevent her from hitting it once again, while the other remained on his shoulder clinging to dear life.

'Clark!' She tried again a little more forcefully after having cleared her throat.

'Lois...' He moaned his attention still completely focussed on her breast.

Letting go of the ceiling for a second she fisted her hand into his hair and roughly tugged at it forcing him to look up at her - a dazed look on his face.

'Hmm... I don't want to freak you out or anything but... um...' She gulped. 'We're floating!'

'What?' He furrowed his brow confused.

'We're floating!' She shouted pointing downwards.

Clark looked down, his eyes bulging out when he realised they were in fact hovering high above his bed. So that's why the ceiling was so close. Made sense-Oh my God!

Lois let out an ear piercing shriek all the way down as they free feel crashing onto the bed with a loud thud. The structure held for a few seconds before it collapsed eliciting another yelp from Lois.

The two remained completely still, large eyes locked together.

_'I flew!'_ His mind yelled. _'And Lois saw it! She saw it!'_

His heart was pounding furiously as he tried to read anything other than absolute and utter shock in Lois' expression. He couldn't.

'Lois!' Martha's voice carried from down the hall and Lois scrambled off of Clark, snatched her shirt and slipped it on just as Mrs. Kent opened the door to find Clark and Lois shell-shocked in different stated of undress sitting up on her son's wrecked bed.

'Lois? Clark? What happened?'


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 31**

It didn't take long before the wheels turning in Martha's head provided her with a reply to her own question, at least one that would explain the young half-naked couple. The smashed bed, though, was what was still leaving her baffled.

'Mom, I can…'

'Explain?' Martha interrupted.

'I was...' His eyes nervously darted between his mother and Lois who was still sitting on the other end of the bed, a look of total disbelief plastered on her rapidly blushing face.

Not only was this the most embarrassing situation she had ever been in but also the most confusing. On one hand she had to deal with the fact that she and Smallville had just been caught by his mother, which was mortifying. On the other… well, she didn't even know where to start with that one! She and Clark had…

She shook her head vehemently. It couldn't be! She stared wide eyed at Clark, waiting for some kind of explanation.

After ten excruciating seconds of silent gawking and blushing from the three parties Martha decided it was time to put an end to their collective suffering.

'Clark, get dressed. I'll be waiting for you down stairs.'

With that she left, closing the door behind her and leaving them alone.

Clark gulped.

'Lois… I…'

She just stared at him. He didn't know what to do, what to say.

Suddenly, he jumped off the bed, reaching for a clean shirt and quickly slipped it on.

'Lois, I'll be right back.'

He was gone. Lois blinked at the closed door, flabbergasted.

It took only a few moments for a scowl to form over her brow as she muttered:

'Oh, no he didn't!'

And off she went hobbling her way down the hall.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs, seeing the back of his mother's head popping up from the top of the comfy couch.

Running his hand through his hair he made his way into the living room.

Without a word he took his seat on his father's chair and waited.

Lois's determined stride faltered as she heard the gravity in Martha's voice:

'Well…'

Lois' heart skipped a beat and she stopped at the bottom of the stairs, holding her breath as she decided it was best listen I, just for a little while.

His mother's words seemed to open the floodgates for him.

'Mom, I'm so sorry. Lois and I we were going to tell you, but it all happened so fast. We didn't even know what was happening until we…

'…Ended up naked on your bed?'

He bit down at the words, his jaw muscles contracting and causing his cheeks to hollow in accentuating his high cheekbones.

'Mom, I'm sorry.' His eyebrows came together dejectedly over the bridge of his nose.

'I thought we had talked about this Clark. I can't believe you let this happen. This isn't how your father and I raised you.'

Clark felt a sting in his chest at the mention of his father.

'I know.'

'I knew there was something going on between you two. It was more than obvious. But this…'

'I don't know how it happened.'

'You don't?!'

'I mean, I know how it… but I didn't mean for it to happen. I just couldn't…'

'Couldn't what?'

'I don't know how to explain it but… ' He inhaled dropping his head for a second before meeting his mother's gaze with renewed courage. 'Mom, I've never felt this way before…'

Martha simply looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

'My entire life, no matter how perfect everything was around me I always had this feeling that I was destined to be alone, that I would never truly be close to anyone. Even when I was with Lana, there was always this thought in the back of my head, haunting me, telling me that I could never be myself with her… not with her or anyone. And I was ok with it. I had accepted it. I'm different and I always will be. But then… it was out of nowhere. Suddenly, there it was… this feeling.' He struggled as he tried to explain himself while his mother anxiously waited for him to finish.

She had never seen her son act this way. She knew his secret burden, his intense longing to fit in and have a glimpse at a normal life. It hurt her knowing his sorrow and not being able to do anything about it.

'She makes me feel comfortable in my own skin, like I don't have to apologise for being different. I feel like I can tell her anything.' He watched as Martha's eyes widened in shock.

'Clark... you can't…'

The two stared at one another in silence until he finally confessed:

'I flew.'

'What?'

'When Lois and I were upstairs…' His cheeks gained a strong shade of red at the memory. '… you know…'

Martha's face reflected the colour of her son's skin as she realised what he meant.

'… this feeling came over me… this amazing sense of calm… peace... like I could just be myself… like it was ok to just be myself…'

Martha was in awe of her son. She could see the self-confidence irradiating from him, it was palpable in the way he held himself, in his mannerism, in his voice. This was something completely new to her, even in his best moments there was always a glimmer of uncertainty. What caught her attention the most was the expression on Clark's face – he looked… happy.

'…the next thing I know Lois' head is hitting the ceiling.' He continued gloomily. 'I saw the look on her face and suddenly all the doubts were back and we came crashing down on the bed. That how the bed ended up…'

'Oh, Clark...' She tilted her head, tentative studying him. 'Have you thought this through? I mean really thought this through?'

'I'm tired of thinking.' He let out an exasperated sigh getting up, he needed to walk off the tension building in his neck. 'I'm tired of lying to everyone. I don't want to lie to her. I want to be with her… really _be_ with her.' He stopped and looked at his mother. 'I don't want to ruin this like I did with Lana. If I lost Lois…'

Lois's heartbeat picked up speed at his words.

'We've talked about this, Clark. Your secret is a heavy burden; not everyone is prepared to handle it.'

When his shoulders slumped she quickly added:

'Now, Lois is an amazing person with an incredible heart but are you sure she's prepared to know everything?'

He came around the chair to take his place again.

'She's so strong, mom!' He said with a sparkle in his eyes his mother hadn't seen in a long time. 'You have no idea. I've never met anyone like her.'

'But you know you'd be putting her in a very complicated position, don't you? One she might not want to be in?' She paused before adding. 'She might end up resenting you for it.'

Clark fought to inhale against the lump that suddenly formed in his throat.

'That's a chance I have to take.'

Lois was completely bewildered; it was too much information for her brain to process. Clark had a secret?

Well, that had become pretty obvious the moment she was head butting the ceiling! She tried to put together the pieces – he lived in Smallville, the capital of weird so it was plausible that something had happened to him. Maybe something to do with the meteor rocks? That was it!

But there was still one thing, the most disconcerting thing about the whole conversation – the way he was talking about her, it made the butterflies in her stomach go amuck.

'This is so sudden! When did…'

'I don't know!' He confessed. 'It just happened.'

'But you two could hardly get along. You were always saying that she was rude and stuck-up and too stubborn.'

'_The best ones always start that way.'_ Lana's words echoed in his head.

How was it that she had realised so early on what had eluded him for over two years?

'I know…' He gave his mother a weak smile, his eyes shyly looking up at her.

Relief spread through him when he saw the beginning of a smile of her own tugging at her lips.

'If you think that this is the best choice...'

'It's my only choice. I can't lie to her. I think…' He couldn't believe he was going to say it. 'I think I love her, mom.'

Martha didn't even have time to react as a loud crashing sound came from the staircase to startle them out of their seats.

They hurried towards the stairs to find Lois sprawled on the bottom step, desperately trying to scramble onto her feet. It seemed to take an eternity as she struggled to get back on her feet, awkwardly failing two, three times until Clark felt pity for her and made a move to help her.

'I-I can do it!' She proudly swatted his hand away, lashing onto the railing and pulling her body into a standing position.

When she'd finally found her balance she straightened her back, raised her chin and puffed her bangs out of her eyes, meeting Clark and Martha's questioning look.

'I-I'm fine. I just… um… tripped. I'm fine.' She repeated breathless, her gaze instantly averting Clark's as his words still echoed in her ears causing her heart to pound furiously in her chest.

The three stood there in uncomfortable stillness, agonizingly aware of the tension in the air.

'_And welcome to awkward moment of silence number nine hundred and thirty nine of the holiday season!'_ Lois' mind mocked trying to cut through the anxiety constricting her chest.

**Chapter 32**

She'd heard it! She had to have heard him say that he thought he loved her!

The way she was acting, the redness of her cheeks, the rapid succession of shallow pants she drew into her lungs were all a testament to that.

At the realisation his pulse instantly fell in synch with the alarming pace of her heart.

'I think I'm just going to go to bed.' Martha at long last broke through the deafening silence. 'Goodnight.'

'Goodnight, Mrs. Kent.' Lois tried to keep the anxiety from her voice by hitching her breath.

'Goodnight, mom.'

The two watched as she disappeared at the top of the stairs. Lois exhaled little by little, dreading the idea of turning around and facing Clark again.

'Lois…'

His restless voice came from behind her sending chills through her entire body. Knowing that she would eventually have to turn around she slowly twirled on her heels. Even though she stood on the bottom step he was still taller and she had to look up to meet his eyes. She let out a forced laugh and put on her best smirk, but instead of her usual cocky grin her lips pulled to the sides tightly for a plastic smile, her eyebrows climbing high on her forehead as she spoke as light-hearted as possible:

'So, how did the conversation go?'

She had to get her breathing under control.

'How long were you listening?' He ignored her question and choked out his own query.

'What do you mean?' She pretended to be oblivious, coming around him and limping into the kitchen.

He was hot on her heels.

'You know what I mean.'

Jesus, it was hard to talk with his heart pounding in his throat like that!

'Clark. I was upstairs.' She lied never being able to meet his gaze. 'You were taking too long so I decided to check on you and I tripped on my way down. I-I didn't hear anything.'

'Then why is you heart racing.' The words were out of his mouth before he could think about them.

'What? How do you…?' She trailed off.

Apparently, flying wasn't the only ability meteor rocks had bestowed on him.

'_Great! What else does he have? X-ray vision?'_ Her mind grumbled.

'I almost fell!' She tried as offhandedly as she could. 'I got scared.'

Her eyes darted all over the place in an attempt to avoid his.

'Lois… look at me.' His voice was weak and she couldn't help caving in to his request.

Letting out a forged exasperated sigh she rolled her eyes before her gaze found his.

The expression on his face made her heart melt.

'Ok, fine! The second you were out the door I came down after you. And don't look so shocked. Like you didn't know I was going to do that, Smallville. Since when do I stay put when people tell me to?'

'Never.'

'Exactly!'

This was the perfect opportunity to avert his attention and avoid the discussion of one particular moment of his conversation with his mother.

'So… You have a secret?' She pursed her lips together. 'Care to share?' Her right eyebrow elegantly arched up at her question.

She watched his Adam's apple dip low in his throat only to pop up back into place.

'Well…?'

'It's… um…'

God, this was hard!

'…kind of complicated.'

'Let me give it a try.' She offered. 'You were exposed to the meteor rocks and developed the ability to fly and apparently irksomely high-quality hearing. Am I close?'

It would be so easy to lie to her. But he couldn't.

His heartbeat doubled at the prospect of revealing his true identity to her. What if she freaked out? What if she didn't accept him?

He shook the terrifying thoughts out of his mind and focused on how to start.

Over a minute ticked by as he struggled to find the words. She just stood there, arms crossed over her chest, staring up at him waiting for an explanation.

'Clark?'

'I'm an alien!' He suddenly blurted and her eyes bugged out.

'What?!'

'I'm an alien.'

After a moment of awkward pause she began with a creased forehead.

'Let me just check – which one of us bumped their head on the ceiling?'

'Lois, I'm serious. I come from a planet called Krypton. Before it was destroyed my parents put me in a spaceship and sent me to Earth.'

'O-kay!' Her eyes grew comically wide as she mockingly informed him of the fact that: 'ET comes in a short and flabby packaging, not tall and buff.'

'Lois!'

'Clark, if you don't want to tell me the truth that's fine. But don't lie to me!'

'I'm not! It's the truth. My parents found me in the cornfield during the first meteor shower.'

'So you want me to believe that you're an alien?'

He nodded.

'From the Rice Krispy planet?'

'Krypton.' He corrected watching her closely.

She tilted her head and made a face.

'Lois, it's the truth. My mom and dad thought it was best if no one knew. They were afraid of what might happen to me if people found out.'

'Clark… You expect me to accept the fact that aliens look _exactly_ like humans. Or better yet, they look like someone out of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue.' She continued to taunt.

'I can prove it!'

'Prove away.' She said spreading her arms out and waiting.

He looked around the room and saw the candle at the far corner of the counter. Lois followed his gaze. Her eyes alternated between him and the wax object.

Her face mimicked his expression when she saw him scowl as if concentrating. When her attention returned to the candle, the wick in the centre of the blue column was burning.

'Ok, h-how did you do that?' She stuttered.

'My eyes can irradiate heat.' He explained matter-of-factly.

'Heat?'

Once again all he did was nod. He was too focussed on trying to decipher her reactions. So far all he got out of her was apprehension and curiosity.

She tried to rationalize the new bit of information that was tossed into her already jumbled brain.

'Well, that could just be another side effect of the-'

Before she could finish his mouth had formed a perfect 'o' and he blew lightly toward the candle.

When she glanced at it she found the wax cylinder enveloped in ice.

'And you can freeze things with your breath!' She lost it. 'Sure! Why not? Makes perfect sense!' She tried to laugh off the nervousness running through her. 'That should come in handy with the whole burning fire out of your eyes things; can't 

have a match without a fire extinguisher to go along with it.' She gulped when she gradually began realising that what he was telling her could actually be true.

She stared up at him in awe.

'So you're not human?'

He cringed at the statement, but nodded once again, knowing that it was true.

'But you're so…' For lack of a better word she repeated herself as she observed him intensely: '…human.'

Soon her hands were mimicking the movements of her eyes.

'You look so...'

Curious fingers trailed after her gaze, running over his broad shoulders, down his large arms, jumping over to his chest and then sluggishly slipping further to his stomach – he held breath as his body instinctively reacted to her exploring hands.

'… perfect.' She finished her thought, pushing out the winded word. 'You look exactly like a man should.'

She paused before pointing out with an obvious undertone that made him blush.

'Exactly like a man.'

If she thought there was too much information before… right now her brain was in overload.

'Phew!' She exhaled, her mind fighting to piece together everything that she'd heard that night.

Clark stood rigidly, fretfully waiting for her reaction. It never came. She was just standing there, staring up at him with those excruciatingly gorgeous eyes of hers.

'Lois, say something!' He pleaded painfully.

Her brain was still turning and clicking.

'Oh, my God!'

His heart stopped.

'It was you.'

'_What? What was me?'_ His mind wanted to shout, but his mouth simply opened and closed repeatedly like a fish out of water.

'All those times that Chloe and I were mysteriously saved… It was you!'

'Um…'

'It was…!' She gawked at him, not needing his confirmation. 'Oh, my God! This might sound weird but… this actually makes a lot of sense!'

He nodded for the umpteenth time. All he wanted to know was if she was ok with this. At least she wasn't freaking out. And strangely enough that was scaring him even more. She just seemed to be… fascinated?

After a few more uncomfortable minutes of her gaping and pawing at him – which was really starting to become disconcerting – she stepped back.

This was it! He braced himself for whatever was coming.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 33**

Standing there in silence, watching he observing him so intensely was making him want to crawl out of his skin. It was killing him… not knowing.

All this seemed completely surreal and Lois felt like she was going wake up any second now. Her brain ping-pong between the two scenarios – either this was real and… well, she couldn't even fandom how to react or this was just one elaborate, seriously screwed up dream. For no apparent reason the random fact that she'd been eating ridiculous amounts of chocolate lately popped into her head.

'Can chocolate make you hallucinate or have funky dreams?' She blurted out her musing.

'What?!'

'Chocolate. _Lots_' She emphasized the word. 'of chocolate. Can it make you go crazy?'

'Lois, what are you talking-'

'Cause that would also explain a lot and it would definitely be more plausible.' She scratched her head. 'I think I saw something about the effects of chocolate on the Discovery Channel… or was it on House?'

'Lois!' Clark said a little more forcefully snapping her out of her daze.

This woman was going to drive him insane. Out of all the things to say she came up with chocolate?

'Well, I'm sorry if I can't just take it all in stride. It's kind of…'

He waited and waited and when she didn't finish the sentence he supplied with a knot in his throat:

'…scary?'

Nothing. He pushed back the acid that was now creeping up his oesophagus as he imagined worse:

'… disgusting?'

'Disgusting?!' She furrowed her brow. 'Why would it be disgusting?'

He shrugged, feeling some minor form of relief. At least she wasn't repelled by him.

'So…' She tried to summarize. Maybe that would help organize her thoughts. 'You float, you hear better than Shelby, you shoot fire from your eyes and ice from your mouth. Anything else I should know?'

'I can run really fast. And I'm pretty strong.'

Somehow, considering everything, she had a sneaking suspicion that that was a euphemism.

'And I'm practically indestructible.'

'Huh?' That last one seemed to catch her attention.

'Nothing can hurt me. Well, almost nothing.' He added recalling a few painful encounters with a certain green rock.

'What do you mean, nothing can hurt you?'

He decided the best way was to show her. Without a word he crossed the kitchen. Lois' eyes grew wide when she saw him retrieve his mother's large cutting knife from one of the drawers.

'Clark… what are you doing?' She asked apprehensively. 'Smallville, this isn't funny.'

He didn't answer merely seized the handle and pointed the blade toward his stomach.

'Clark!'

Lois lunged at him in a second grabbing a tight hold of his wrist.

'Clark, stop it! This isn't funny!'

His hand continued to move and desperation took over her as the knife moved closer and closer to his gut.

'Clark!' She yelled hysterically clutching at his hand.

She froze solid when with a swift jerk of his wrist the blade disappeared into the fabric of his shirt.

'Oh, my God, Clark!' She frenziedly pulled at the cloth, pawing at his skin trying to assess the damage only to stiffen once again, her heart stopping for a split second when she failed to find a wound.

Her eyes dropped to his hand were he still held the handle of the knife; its metallic end was now completely bent and twisted.

'H-how?'

Her hips bumped against the counter when she stumbled back in shock.

'Lois...'

Maybe he shouldn't have done that.

Discarding the ruined knife, his hand was now free to reach for her. He moved hesitantly, not wanting to startle her.

'A-are you ok?'

She threw him a dirty look.

'I just saw my alien boyfriend try to stab himself in the gut with his mother's kitchen knife.' Her voice dripped with stunned sarcasm. 'That kinda had me rattled for a second. Just for a second, because other than that I'm just peachy!'

He didn't even notice the transformation in her eyes as they narrowed at him. One word reverberated in his ears and made it hard to focus on anything else.

Boyfriend. She'd called him her boyfriend!

'Don't _ever_ do that again!' She warned him with a threatening index finger. 'I don't care if you're made of steel. Got it?'

He just gawked at her with that goofy half grin over his lips.

'Clark?'

His grin bloomed into a full smile.

'What?' She asked with a frown.

'You just called me your boyfriend.' He noted; his eyes were bright with restrained excitement.

'Well, yeah! I don't know who you think I am but I don't go around lip locking with just anyone!' She seemed almost offended.

But he didn't believe his chest had room for anything other than the amazing sensation of intense happiness that was taking over and making it hard stop from grinning at her.

'So you're ok with...'

He held his breath.

'I don't know... it's just so much information at once.'

She could see him deflate as the initial enthusiasm died down.

Meeting his eyes she spoke as calmly as it possible for Lois Lane:

'I just need to think.'

His gaze dropped dejectedly and stepping back he muttered:

'I understand.'

Silently, she crossed the kitchen and stopped at the bottom of the staircase. She turned to see Clark standing in the middle of the tiled room with his head bowed. She felt her heart sink at the sight of him; a sharp pain sparked in her gut followed by a nauseating and sour taste in the back of her mouth… but she needed to be honest with herself.

Even though almost every fibber in her body was yelling at her to go to him and assure him that everything would be ok, that nothing had changed, a small part of her couldn't help but bring up with all these doubts.

What did all of this mean? Did it make a difference what his real origins were?

In reality that wasn't what bothered her the most. It was the fact that he hadn't told her earlier. That he hadn't trusted her. It took her seeing one of his powers for him to finally divulge the truth about him. That niggling detail made her question so many things that she couldn't in good conscious pretend that she wasn't troubled by the revelations of that evening.

Her mind was so absorbed in all these questions that she startled herself when the words came out of her mouth:

'Well, since you've got that super strength going for you, you wouldn't mind...' Out of its own accord her head tilted indicating the staircase when he looked up.

'Oh, sure.'

He tried to swallow down the ache obstructing his throat while he walked over to her and easily swept her up into his arms. Her heart immediately picked up speed, the discomfort in her stomach being instantly replaced by a breath-tacking tingling that spread through her body as his closeness assaulted her every sense. Mechanically, her arms wrapped around his neck.

It was about three steps up the staircase that she realised that that nagging fraction of her that insisted on coming up with all these hindrances to their relationship had gradually dissolved into nothingness.

The idea that just three steps ago her mind had managed to find even one reason for her not to be with him seemed inconceivable when at that moment all she could think about was how right being in his arms felt, how perfectly content and complete she was in that instant.

By the time he'd brought her to her room she had decided - she wanted to be with...

_'No! I need__to be with him!_' She corrected herself.

'_Good, ping-pong girl has made up her mind! Now do you mind doing something? He's leaving.'_ Her brain grumbled causing her to register that he was had just placed her on the broken bed and was pulling away.

Thankfully her body reacted for her.

'Um... Lois? You have to let go.' He spoke timidly when her arms wouldn't release their hold around his neck.

'I don't want to.' She responded hastily.

His eyes grew wide. He didn't want to jump to conclusions. He'd already been hurt enough because of his swift assumptions. So, he swallowed and ripped the words from his throat.

'What do you mean?'

'I want to be with you.'

His blood rushed through his veins at a frightening pace.

'What about needing to think about...?'

'I've done enough thinking.' She decided, stating matter-of-factly. 'I don't care.'

His chest inflated while he held his breath watching her closely as she rose up and tenderly drew his lip into her mouth. His lids dropped closed when her teeth gently nibbled at him and her tongue enticingly slid across his mouth, persuading him, tempting him.

There was only so much he could take. Exhaling sharply through his nostrils he responded promptly opening his mouth and deepening the kiss.

Soon his body was drapped on top of hers, one hand hooked under her earlobe in the crook of her neck, the other on the side of her waist pulling her hips against his.

'Hmm...' Feeling that he was quickly losing control over the situation, Clark tore his mouth from hers.

She stared up at him with a questioning look.

His heart jumped to his throat. God, she was beautiful!

'You're not going to change your mind again. Are you?' He gulped.

Her response was unexpected and he suddenly found himself lying flat on his back, her body covering his, her face hovering a few inches above his.

She wrinkled her nose for a mocking look of exasperation adding a roll of her eyes for good measure.

'No, I'm not.'

'Good.' He smiled and she bent down to capture his lips once again.

It wasn't long before the simple kiss intensified into a full blown make out, complete with exploring hands and avidly grinding hips.

_'I can handle this. I can handle this.' _Clark's mental mantra was interrupted by Lois questioning voice.

'Clark...?'

He opened his eyes, they followed her pointed gaze to realise they were once again floating.

Thankfully, this time they were just a few inches off the mattress so there wasn't mush noise or any additional damage to the bed when they fell.

Not that there was much more damage to be done, Lois noted letting go of her death grip on his shirt and mocking:

'Is this going to happen a lot? Cause I'm thinking of buying myself a helmet.'

Before he could apologize her right eyebrow teasingly arched up and she added suggestively:

'Or maybe we could get you some rope?'

Clark gulped. _That_ he wasn't sure if he could handle.

Gently, he rolled her off of him.

'I think it's best if I just go downstairs before...'

She pouted at him. Not the pout!

'Lois... I'm afraid I might hurt you...'

'...with the whole super power thing?' She completed his sentence.

He gave her a sad nod.

'But what about at the lodge? We...'

'That was different. The meteor rock concoction made me lose all my powers.'

'So, when we...'

'I was without my powers, yes.'

'And now they're back... obviously.'

They lay in silence, frustration splayed on both their faces.

'Does this mean that...' She was afraid to ask. '...we'll never get to...?'

'No! I mean... I don't know...' He admitted.

She let out a long breath. This was unexpected. They had to figure out something. She didn't think she could control herself.

Seeing the look on her face he immediately jumped in:

'Well, we can figure something out.'

His stomach fluttered as she beamed at him.

'Yeah?' She bit her bottom lip and he had to repress a groan.

'Yeah.' He confirmed giving her a quick peck on the mouth.

**Chapter 34**

As she came down the stairs the whiff of bacon and eggs assaulted her senses causing her to inhale through her nose. It smelled delicious.

She faltered in her stride, or better, in her hobble when she saw Clark at the sink washing the breakfast dishes while Mrs. Kent was fumbling through her purse. Lois swallowed nervously; she hadn't spoken with her since last night's awkward encounter at the bottom of the same staircase she stood now.

Clark's head whipped back when he heard the distinct beating of her heat skip a beat. An immediate smile illuminated his face when their eyes met.

'Good morning.' Lois greeted with an anxious grin.

Relief washed over her when Mrs. Kent looked up at her with a smile of her own.

'Good morning, Lois.' She replied.

Hurriedly wiping his hands on the back of his jeans he crossed the kitchen and came to shyly stand next to Lois.

'Good morning.'

There was something in the way he said those words that made her knees weak. She jolted back when he bent down towards her. His brows came together for a questioning look.

'_Not in front of your mom.' _ She mouthed her reproach up at him between clenched teeth and she stood up straight, rigidly as if awaiting inspection by the older woman.

Martha, on the other hand, was too busy getting a plate of bacon and eggs from the microwave and setting it on the kitchen table in front of Lois to notice the exchange, but the suffocating tension in the room didn't go unnoticed.

'Thanks.' Lois muttered sitting on the stool and picking up her fork.

The way her throat was clenching tightly she doubted she would be able to eat anything; no matter how wonderful it smelled. She made an effort and brought a bite of the scrambled eggs to her mouth. At least if she was occupied with chewing on something she wouldn't feel as guilty about the uncomfortable stillness between the three.

The seconds sluggishly crawled away making her increasingly more jumpy; she could almost see the elephant in the corner growing and overtaking every inch of available space until she was squeezing her elbows together.

When Lois had her face almost buried in her plate Martha took pity on the younger woman and turned to her son:

'Since Lois is up already, could you please start working on fixing your bed?'

Lois couldn't help coughing loudly when she choked at the memory of how the bed had ended up needing to be fixed.

'Are you ok?' Clark asked concerned.

Lois stiffened at the feel of his hand on her lower back, her wide eyes darted guiltily toward Martha and she quickly snapped into action jerking away from him.

'I'm fine.' She assured a little too eagerly between coughs. 'Just-' cough '-went down the wrong-' double cough '-tube.'

Lois lips spread for a tight smile as she picked up her glass and gulped down a copious amount of her orange juice.

Realising Lois was safe from choking to death Martha looked up at her son to remind him of her earlier request.

Reluctantly, he left, not without first exchanging a look with Lois.

And so the two women were left alone.

If before the silence had been a torment, at that moment it had turned into an elaborate form of torture. Every movement of her mouth as she chewed seemed roaring and caused her to sink further into her seat.

It came to a point she couldn't take it anymore. She just wasn't equipped with the ability of disregarding oversized, suffocating elephants. Nope, it just wasn't in Lois Lane's system. If anything she had a particular aptitude to point them out to the discomfort of most of the people that surrounded her. She would always blurt something out and today was no exception:

'I'm really sorry about last night. Clark and I never meant to do that. I would never disrespect your household like that, Mrs. Kent. It's just that one thing lead to another and suddenly… well, you know… I just want to promise you that it will never, ever happen again. I promise, I will never let-'

'Lois, Lois, calm down!' Martha interrupted frightened when she saw Lois' complexion turn purple from lack of oxygen.

Catching her breath Lois stared back at Mrs. Kent expectantly.

'You don't have to apologize anymore and I believe you when you say it's never going to happen again.' Martha reassured seeing Lois visibly loosen up.

There was a moment of pause before Mrs. Kent continued.

'Clark told me about your conversation last night…'

Lois remained silent… waiting.

'I know he told you about…'

'He's secret is safe with me.' Lois quickly jumped in.

'I know.' Martha nodded with a warm smile. 'If there is anyone that he can trust it's you.'

'I really care about him.' Lois acknowledged with a hint of red creeping into her cheeks; she was never good at admitting her real feelings.

'Oh, I know that to. Even though I was a bit startled by the sudden… change in your relationship, I can't say I didn't see it coming.'

At Lois' confused frown Martha laughed lightly.

'From the moment you two met we were expecting it. We knew it was only a mater of time.'

'We as in…'

'Jonathan and I.' Martha explained, not hiding the hint of nostalgia and pain at the mention of her late husband. 'I'm just sorry that he isn't here to see your relationship finally begin to develop.'

'You knew? H-how?'

'Oh, honey, it was pretty evident, even though you and Clark seemed adamant at remaining oblivious to it, it was blatant to everyone else.'

Oh, great! First Oliver, now the Kents; were she and Clark really that blind?

'Don't worry about it. The important thing is that you've finally realised your true feelings for one another and I'm glad that he told you the truth about him. It tortured him when he was with Lana.'

For some reason the mention of Clark's ex-girlfriend caused the hairs in the back of Lois' neck to stand up, and not in a good way.

'It killed him not to be able to be himself, to be completely honest with her.'

'_Can we not talk about Lana?_' Lois' mind silently begged.

'It's good that he can share this secret with you. It's different with Chloe. She's his friend, but with you-'

'Chloe knows?' Lois cut her off.

Martha nodded creasing her forehead. Had she said something she shouldn't have?

'Since when?'

'Almost two years.'

'Two year?!'

'Yes.' Martha was getting a sneaking suspicion that she should cut this conversation short and let Lois and Clark talk this through.

Apparently there were still a few details that he had failed to mention.

'Lois, don't worry. I' sure Clark was going to tell you.' Mrs. Kent glanced at her watch.

She was already late but Lois was too wrapped up in her growing irritation to notice.

'Well, I better go. I'm late.' Martha announced picking up her purse.

'Oh, ok.' Lois said still a bit distracted.

Mrs. Kent stopped for a second before resting a reassuring hand on Lois' shoulder.

'He told you his greatest secret. If he did that it's because he trusts you and cares for you… a lot. Don't get caught up in petty details.'

Martha's smile grew when she felt Lois' muscles relax under her hand.

'Thanks, Mrs. Kent.'

'See tonight.'

'Have a great day.'

'Thanks, goodbye honey.'

The moment the door closed Lois was stomping up the stairs.

Clark stared at the broken bed. It was completely ruined. There was no fixing it. They would have to buy a new one.

He looked more closely.

Maybe there was something he could do to-

'Ouch!' He jumped up when he felt a fist connect with his arm.

He turned to see Lois staring daggers at him.

'What?'

Oh-oh! What had he done wrong now?

'Chloe knows?' She demanded.

Oh!

'Yes.' He gulped.

'For almost two years?!'

Another gulp.

'Yes. Who-who told you?'

'Your mom.' She narrowed her eyes at him. 'Oh, you're in the doghouse.' She warned him.

'But Lois, I didn't… We weren't… It was dif-'

He stopped his incoherent stuttering when he saw a glimpse of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips and relief washed over him.

'From now on I get first dibs on the any info - ET or non ET-related. Got it?'

His arms came to wrap around her waist and he pull her in.

'Promise.'

Their mouths mirrored each other's goofy grins until he leaned in and suddenly she pulled away from his embrace.

'What? My mom's not here.' He pouted.

'I promised your mom.'

'What?' He asked with a hint of fear.

'No funny business in the house.' She explained.

A big part of her regretted it at that moment but she stood her ground.

'But I was just going to kiss you. No funny business.'

She tilted her head giving him an eye roll.

'You know pretty well that between us…' Her index finger alternated between the two of them. 'There is no such thing as just a kiss. It always ends up…' She swallowed hard as suggestive memories popped into her head. '… complicated.'

'But-'

'No, buts!' She shook her head vehemently leaving the room with Clark quickly trailing after her.

'Just a-'

'No!' She jolted away when he tried to reach for her.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 35**

She sat on the stool, nervously tapping her foot while leaning into the kitchen table and trying to focus on the papers spread out in front of her, but somehow, for the umpteenth time that evening her eyes glided toward the couch.

He sat there, lightly chewing on the remote as he stared intensely at the TV screen, his hair damp and tousled from yet another recent trip to the shower, right after dinner.

Unconsciously, she bit at the end of her pencil, her eyes lingering on the tight sweater he wore paired with some old, worn-out jeans. She'd never regretted buying him that item for his Christmas gift as much as she did at that moment.

'_I should have stuck with the pen idea.'_

Yeah, a pen would be safe. A pen wouldn't be having the agonizing effect that the blue piece of clinging fabric was having on her. To make matters worse he'd pushed the sleeves up to his elbows, exposing his taut forearms. She watched in awe as the muscles twitched every time his hands moved.

On reflex she pushed her legs together, trying to repress the sensation that insisted on spreading through her body at the mere sight of him.

Shaking herself out of her daze she dropped her attention back to the paperwork in front of her.

'_Need to focus. Need to focus.'_

She had a twisted ankle but she was still Mrs. Kent's Chief of Staff. She had a job to do. Having spent a better part of the day at the Talon putting the final touches on the preparations for the New Year's Eve party she was left with only these couple of hours after dinner to work on that report.

Not being able to hold back anymore Clark dared to look away from the flickering images coming from the TV. His glance landed on his mother. She sat on his father's chair, a large pile of papers forgotten on her lap after she'd dozed off, her reading glasses riding low on her nose.

It wasn't long before his eyes drifted to the background to find the real object of his interest sitting at the table, facing him. She leaned forward, over the wooden surface and seemed to be completely engrossed in her work.

His brows rose together on his forehead signalling his torment when his attention fell on the tip of her pencil which rested between her partially open lips.

He couldn't believe that he had actually been reduced to envying an inanimate object.

Inadvertently, his eyes fell further south to the V-neck cut of her t-shirt, dwelling on the luscious swell of her breasts. He pressed his eyelids shut in a failed attempt to rein in the sudden rush that surged through his body. He could feel his ever present self control wavering and without knowing how, suddenly found himself standing at the entrance to the kitchen staring into her wide eyes.

'How's that going?' He winced when his voice came out a little too needy.

'Almost done.' She muttered concentrating back on the papers.

The papers were safe too.

'_Should've bought the stupid pen.'_ She chastised herself.

'Mom fell asleep.' He tried to continue the conversation.

She stiffened slightly when she felt him stepping closer until their forearms were brushing against each other, her eyes closing as she inhaled sharply.

'I-I really need to finish this.' She hated herself for stuttering.

How did he always manage to make her so feeble?

'Oh, right...' He agreed but didn't move and she was forced to look up at him.

She was going for annoyed but as their eyes locked again her stomach fluttered making her catch her breath.

'Do you mind not standing so close? It's um… kind of distracting.' She admitted.

When he remained still she let her shoulders fall.

'Smallville…' She began, her mouth going dry and instinctively her tongue darted out to moisten her lips drawing in his gaze. 'I promised your mom.'

'Right.' He nodded blindly fixated on her mouth.

'Smallville…'

Nothing.

'Clark! You're not helping.' She pointed out slightly exasperated.

How was she supposed to stop herself from acting on her ever growing draw to him if he insisted on undressing her with his gaze?

'Well, neither are you!' He blurted frustrated.

'What did I do?!' She asked defensively.

'Why did you have to wear that t-shirt?'

'What's wrong with this t-shirt?'

He made a face pointedly dropping his eyes to her cleavage, the blush spreading quickly over his cheeks.

'I always wear this t-shirt.'

'And it's always torture for me.' He confessed not being able to look away from her breasts.

God, he needed another shower!

Lois was having trouble controlling her wandering gaze herself as it drifted over his chest, enthralled by how it rose and fell at an irregular rhythm. The thought that she was the cause of it, that she was the reason he was having so much trouble keeping his breathing under control brought on an intoxicating sense of power that rattled her to the core.

'_Shake it off, just shake it off.'_ She ordered her body looking up at him.

'I promised…'

He let out a heartbreaking, throaty noise at her words.

'Right…' He swallowed hard causing his jaw muscles to tighten. '… not in the house.'

'Exactly.' Her voice was as miserable as his.

Suddenly it struck him, his eyes widening with anticipation as he spoke anxiously:

'Technically the barn isn't part of the house.'

She straightened on the stool eagerly adding:

'It's like a whole other building.'

He nodded vehemently stepping closer to her:

'It's completely separate from the main house.'

Her breathing was hitching in her throat at his proximity.

'Plus it's mainly your roof.' She continued to defend the twisted logic now freely staring at his mouth. 'You're the one who's always cooped up in there, right?'

'Yeah.' He wet his lips staring down at hers.

'_So close.'_

'My loft.'

'Not the same roof at all.' She gasped when his hand landed on her arm and lightly pulled her closer.

'Practically on the other side of the farm.' He had to groan when their pelvis came into contact.

'Well, um… that's a lie.' Lois had to admit.

'Yeah.' He relented dejectedly.

Seeing him falter in his determination she speedily argued:

'But still not technically part of this house.' She was grasping at straws running her fingers over his chest and moving closer. His mouth seemed to have her hypnotised.

He was nodding before she had finished her sentence, his mouth mumbling the word: 'Technically.' before putting a definite end to the torturous conversation by closing the final inch of air between them and capturing her mouth in a demanding kiss, his arms tying themselves around her waist and abruptly drawing her against his chest.

He groaned when she pushed away, her forehead resting on his for a few seconds as she caught her breath and panted out:

'I'll get my crutches.'

'Forget the crutches.' He grunted impatiently scooping her into his arms.

In a blink of an eye she found herself lying flat on her back on his couch, Clark's broad body covering hers, his face buried in the crook of her neck, his mouth ravenously exploring the tender skin it found there and making her undulate up against him.

Her nails scrapped down his clothes back anxious to feel him naked against hers until they reached his denim-clad ass and grab onto it, pulling him closer to her.

**Chapter 36**

Her fingers fisted into his wet hair to tear him away from her throat and bring his mouth to hers.

His hips pushed her thighs apart, one hand hooking behind her knee, pulling at it while he shove his groin against hers causing her to gasp and break the kiss when she felt him already hard and unyielding, eagerly pressing against her heat.

Pushing at his shoulders he forced him up and before he could protest she had him sitting on the couch and she was straddled him.

She paused for a moment and gasped when she caught the hungry look in his eyes. She couldn't take it anymore. She didn't care if he had superpowers, if he could hurt her or not. She didn't care. All she knew was that she couldn't stand another second of this unforgiving ache for him not being satisfied.

Her hands frantically reached for the hem of his sweater, desperately pulling at it until sweater, shirt and t-shirt all came off in one sharp tug leaving his chest free for her avid fingers to explore. She flattened the palms of her hands against his pectoral muscles as her mouth dove in to assault his lips, readily sucking at them while she pressed her entire body flush against his.

She needed him now! And she wasn't going to stop at anything!

The way her body was moving; her hips driving into his, letting him know just how much she wanted him was driving him insane!

Soon his hands were busy taking out their frustration on the fabric that had been teasing him the entire evening.

She yelped when she heard the sound of tearing and instantly knew that her t-shirt was history when she felt the cloth slip limply down her back.

'Hmm…' She moaned into his mouth before coming up for breath and Clark used the opportunity to change the spotlight of his lips' attention.

His tongue lashed out against the silk texture of her bra, tormenting one hardened nipple through the growingly damp material, his hand joining in and eagerly cupping her.

His thumb hooked on the strap of her bra and tugged at it until her breast was spilling out and his mouth seized the dark nub that was now exposed to the harsh cold.

He groaned when he felt her shudder and moan under his ministrations as he suckled at her tender flesh and kneaded her breast. How many times had he drifted in and out of slumber picturing this moment, hearing in his mind those palatable little mewling noises that he was now drawing out of her?

Somewhere in the back of Lois' hazy mind she was aware of the fact that it was late December in horrible Kansas weather and though it hadn't snowed in a few days it was still pretty cold, especially for her standards. Then why wasn't she cold?

She got her answer when she opened her eyes and looked down to see his mouth moving over her chest. His teeth grazed her nipple and his hand greedily squeezed her breast causing a warm wave of liquid to sluggishly seep down between her thighs to dampen her panties.

This was too much! She needed more! More of him, more of-

'Jesus!' Clark swore, releasing her nipple and stiffening when her impatient hand slipped between their bodies and gripped him through the rough denim, massaging him, pumping him while her free fingers worked on the fastening of his jeans.

His foggy gaze alternated between her diligent hands and her beautiful flushed face as she concentrated fully on releasing him from the confines of his pants.

This couldn't be happening! They weren't supposed to go this far. He could hurt her, he could-

'Oh, God!' He grunted with a gravely voice when her hand slipped into his jeans and grasped his cock.

His mouth fell open as he tried to say something - maybe stop her? - but nothing other than a series of fumbling gasps and grunts came out when she squeezed and began pumping him in a slow, torturous rhythm.

Lois took in with an inebriating rush of power and lust the sight of him helpless under her, his head lolling back, his eyes partially closed while his hips desperately bucked up into her hand, trying to increase the pace and the pressure.

At that moment there was nothing she wanted more than to see him come.

Blind anxiety and despair took over him when he felt the weight of her thighs leave him.

Where was she going? What was she-?

He froze when his cloudy eyes opened to find her kneeling between his legs, her face dangerously close to his crotch.

'Lois… What are you-'

And then her mouth was on him and he suddenly lost all ability to speak.

'Gaw-ah!'

If he thought her hand was wonderful, the soaking heat of her mouth brought him to a whole other level of pleasure.

'Lois…' He was barely able to choke out her name, his head becoming suddenly too heavy and dropping back as her tongue swept across his cock.

His hands fisted at his sides as he fought for control, while she watched from behind semi-hooded eyes as he gritted his teeth together, the cords in his neck stretching with the effort. It was completely shattered when she took more of him in and began a slothful alternating motion of sucking him in and drawing him out of her mouth.

'_Oh God, no, oh God no!'_

How was he supposed to stop this? How was he supposed to think with her mouth on him, ardently licking at his cock making his eyes roll back into his skull?

He'd never experienced anything like this. This couldn't be happening. He had to stop this before it got out of hand.

He tried to open his eyes, but the raw sight of her head bobbing up and down over his crotch almost dug him in and he quickly shut his eyes.

'God, Lois! That feels…'

He couldn't even begin to describe what it felt like. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined it would feel like this.

'Please don't stop!' He found himself hoarsely begging, his hips seeming to have a mind of their own as they manically jerked upwards seeking the scalding warmth of her mouth.

She felt herself growing more and more aroused at the hopelessness in his voice, the harsh moans and mindless random words that he managed to tear from his throat as he yielded all control of his body over to her.

Never had she felt this dominant – to have someone as powerful as he completely at her mercy, surrendered to her every whim, imploring her, grunting out her name like that… She could feel the pressure inside of her building and she pushed her legs together when she felt the consequent moisture flowing between her thighs.

'Lois… wait…'

His hand weakly delved into her hair in a feeble attempt to halt her movements while the shoving motion of his pelvis totally contradicted his honourable intentions.

He had to stop her! He was so close… so close…

'Please… just… Ah!' He gritted out.

Grasping a few locks of her hair, his treacherous hand betrayed him and instead of pulling her off of him it kept her in place as he began thrusting a little more impatiently, increasing the pace.

Lois understood how close he was and began sucking harder, her cheeks hollowing every time she pulled him out of her mouth, her hand slipping between his legs to caress his sac.

'Lois, you have to stop… Jesus!' He tried desperately. 'Lois, I'm gonna... If you don't stop I'm... I'm… Oh, God!'

He froze for a split second before his pelvis jerked uncontrollably once, twice, bucking up against her face and then he was gone.

His mouth fell open to let out a strangled cry as his orgasm ripped through his tortured body, the intense bliss rendering him mindless for as long as the waves of pleasure coursed through him.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 37**

'Oh, God! Lois!' He suddenly snapped as awareness of what had just happened slammed into him.

Before she could blink she found herself being plopped down on the couch with a dull thud, Clark's hands desperately pushing her hair out of her face as he nervously inspected every inch of it.

'Are you alright? Oh, my God! I didn't mean to, you were just...' He gulped at the memory. 'I just lost control... I'm so sorry...' He babbled as he continued to check for any possible bruise or cut.

How could he have done this? How could he have risked… He'd lost control for a second, a second he couldn't afford to lose. One slightly more enthusiastic thrust of his hips and he could've really hurt her.

He felt like his mind was nothing more than a rushing traffic of thoughts in a dense fog as his brain and body still reeled from the aftershocks of his orgasm. The one mantra that seemed to shout out in the middle of all the muddled confusion was the fear for Lois' safety.

'Um... Clark?' She began with a perplexed frown as she pulled the string of her bra over her shoulder. 'Clark!' She said a little more forcefully and that seemed to catch his attention. 'I'm fine.' She assured him grabbing his hands and bringing them around her waist as she sensually moved in.

He pulled back still not completely convinced.

'Are you sure?'

She nodded with a sly smile, bringing her leg over his to straddle his lap causing him to press against the back of the couch in a feeble attempt to put some distance between his face and her breasts.

He remained frozen in place as she leaned in and brushed her mouth against his. As her tongue slipped between his parted lips and he felt himself melt under its silky smooth texture.

'Lois…' He tried to speak but the way she was pressing her groin into his made him lose his trail of thought.

Her hair fell around his face, teasingly running across his cheeks as she deepened the kiss, her lips moving more heatedly against his, pulling and sucking at his mouth as the tension inside of her continued to build up.

Her hands glided down his chest, over his stomach and slipped between their bodies jolting him back to reality.

'Lois!' He jerked back holding her hand in place as he looked up at her from behind hooded eyes.

God, she looked beautiful - large eyes, flushed cheeks, swollen lips, glistening neck and - he forced his eyes closed for a second trying to keep his gaze from drifting any further.

An involuntary grunt escaped him when she pushed her pelvis against his and he heard her rasping in his ear.

'I want you, Clark.'

He couldn't do this. He couldn't risk - _'Oh, not the ear thing, not-ah!'_ His mouth dropped open as her tongue slid around the shell of his ear, her teeth joining in and her undulating hips only making matters worse.

His fingers dug into the sides of her waist, his teeth grazing over her shoulder as he tried to keep himself in check while she greedily plundered his neck.

He had only one chance. One chance.

Without warning he wrapped his arm around her and with one swift movement she was laying back on the couch while he once again hovered over her.

Their eyes met for a second before he attacked her mouth. She was still in shock when he had already left her lips to trail harsh open kisses down her throat and over the swell of her breast. Much to her surprise he easily unsnapped the clasp in the back and soon the bra was discarded on the floor, next to her ruined t-shirt.

Without wasting a second his mouth assaulted one of her breasts, his large hand directing the tender mound as his lips locked around her perked nipple.

He sucked and licked greedily while vigorously kneading her flesh, causing her to arch up toward him, her fingers burying themselves into his hair to keep him from moving.

While his mouth and hand worked on her breast, his free fingers crept between their bodies and found the fastening of her jeans. Instinctively, Lois toed her shoes off and soon, his thumb was hooked on the denim and was tugging it along her smooth thighs until she was left with nothing on but the flimsy cotton triangle that covered her sex.

'Clark...' His name was barely understandable between mewled grunts as he abandoned her breast and focused on her stomach.

Forcing her eyes open she gasped when she saw his head slipping between her spread thighs, one leg dropping off the couch, the other hooked over his shoulder while his tongue glided just below her bellybutton.

She held her breath when he reached the hem of her underwear and looked up, their eyes meeting.

He felt his own breath hitching in his chest at the sight of her. He was pretty sure there wasn't any other angle in which she could look sexier than she did right now. He followed the taut surface of her belly, up to her heaving chest, watching mesmerized as her breasts moved frantically up and down every time she drew a harsh pant through her gaping mouth; her eyes were large and almost black as her dilated pupils swamped the hazel in her iris.

He kept his eyes on her as he let his mouth drop to her cotton covered mound. She wiggled slightly as the excruciating wait seemed to swallow her whole but his hands on her hips kept her in place as he slid down further leaving a trail of hot kisses behind until he reached his goal.

His heart pounded furiously in his chest, the initial nervousness he'd felt over his inexperience in this area being completely surpassed by the intoxicating scent of her. It was just so alluring, willing him to just take her, flooding his brain with the urgent desire to taste, lick and suck at her flesh until he was completely satiated with her.

'Clark… please...' She begged thrusting her hips against him, her hand, which had remained forgotten in his hair, fisting itself tighter and urging him on.

Her eyes rolled back when his tongue came out and licked her through the fabric of her panties.

She felt him groan against her when he realised that the material was already soaked through with her juices. What little control he had left seemed to shatter at this new piece of information and, suddenly, with one simultaneous flick of his thumbs her underwear was snapped off and dismissively thrown over the back of the couch.

'Oh, GOD!' She screamed when his tongue came into direct contact with the tender flesh of her sex.

He didn't even give her time to adjust to the new experience, his own need taking over as he eagerly began to explore every inch of her, licking and suckling greedily at her, lapping hungrily at the enthralling moisture he found there.

He never thought it could taste like this! It was intoxicating – the flavour, the smell… how could anything feel this sleek and silky? He wanted more… more of this… more of her…

'God, Lois… you taste…' He gnashed out between lavish and gluttonous licks.

He almost choked when he opened his eyes and saw her – she was spread out for him, her head dropped to the side, her teeth biting into the fabric of the couch, her glossy breasts trapped between her arms as one hand clawed at the back of the sofa the other fisted in his hair pushing him into her sex.

Jesus, if he could only bury himself in the tight heat he could feel just under his mouth, just where his wandering tongue was now pushing itself into and causing her to arch up and cry out his name.

'Clark, I need you…' She rasped hoarsely, pulling at his hair, trying to haul him up, but he didn't budge.

With an inhuman effort she opened her eyes and their gazes locked. She didn't have to say anything, the way she was looking pleadingly at him told him just what she needed.

But what she needed he couldn't give her. He couldn't risk it.

'Inside… please…' She wasn't making any sense.

She knew that. But thinking wasn't exactly something she could do when she had Clark's mouth and tongue lapping at her clit that way.

Oh, God, seeing those large blue eyes staring back at her from between her legs was just too much!

'Clark!' She whimpered desperately never leaving his eyes.

And then she felt it - his finger slipping into her.

She fought to keep her breathing under control, her eyes fixed on his as he began moving in and out of her heat.

'More…' She managed to gasp out and he added a second finger while his lips clasped around the small nub of nerves located just above her opening.

She was so tight he could barely move his two fingers in and out of her even though she was sleek and thoroughly soaked. He had to swallow hard at the idea of his cock replacing his fingers in that scorching tightness.

Pushing back the thought he continued to move, pumping diligently at a sluggish pace.

Completely attune to her reactions it didn't go unnoticed when she ever so slightly gyrated her hips to the left. Realising what she was wordlessly asking he moved his fingers, he searched inside of her for that one stop he had found a less than two months before. That one spot inside of her that made her-

'That's it!' She yelled stiffing completely.

She moaned frantically when he felt him slid his fingers out of her, almost exiting her fully, but relief and a wave of intense please washed over her when he pushed back in hitting her right… there!

He repeated the gripping motion over and over again, each time applying more pressure and increasing the pace until he was shoving his fingers in and out of her as she fervently thrust her hips into his hand while babbling breathlessly:

'Harder… faster… that's it… right there… just a little…' She impaled herself vigorously on his fingers, her hips jerking blindly against him until: '… Clark… I'm coming… oh God! I'm coming!' She choked out as her orgasm ripped through her.

He watched as her body thrashed, her hips bucking into his hand – it was the most enthralling thing he'd ever witnessed and he couldn't help to just kneel there and stare as she slowly came down from her heightened state of pleasure.

He could tell the exact moment when it was over. It coincided with the most loving and simultaneously mischievous Lois Lane smile he'd ever seen.

When she opened her eyes her arms limply spread out in a silent invitation that he gladly accepted.

Wordlessly, he lay on the couch beside her, bringing her to lay partially over his chest.

'Are you cold?' He asked when he felt her shiver.

She nodded.

'Just a second.'

It actually took less than that as he super-sped across the loft and was back laying on the couch next to her under a warm mantle.

'Better?' He questioned looking down at her face as she rested against his chest.

'A little. It's gonna take a few minutes.'

'Maybe not.' He noted.

Her eyes widened when she felt a wave of heat drag up her body and she realised it came from his eyes.

'Hmm… I guess this whole super boyfriend thing has its perks.' She grinned wildly resting her chin on his torso to look up at him with an arched eyebrow.

He simply smiled back feeling the growingly familiar rush of happiness expanding his chest.

**Chapter 38**

'So-'

'Jesus!' Lois jolted up straight at the voice that came up unexpectedly from behind her, her trembling hand jerking to her chest to settle over her suddenly racing heart as she turned around to face a tuxedo-clad Clark.

She'd already seen him that evening so thankfully this time she wasn't as distracted or as winded as she had been the first time.

'Don't do that!' She scolded him trying to regain her focus by averting her eyes from him and surveying the crowded coffee shop which she had transformed for that evening's sumptuously elegant party.

'Sorry.' He said apologetically.

He awkwardly stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants when his gaze fell on her taut back left exposed by the stunning crimson gown she was wearing.

It was a simple yet striking item. The satin like fabric hooked behind her neck coming down the front to draped two red columns of cloth over her voluptuous 

breasts. Between them a long, teasing valley of flesh was left bare almost all the way down to her navel - the scarlet contrasting with her slightly paler than usual but still bronzed skin.

The dress clung to her defined hips, only to swoop down freely and cover her legs.

Clark's eyes, however, were now focussed on the small gap between her ribcage and the red fabric. How easy it would be to just slip his hand underneath it, follow the course of her ribs up to her chest and just...

The thought had been plaguing his mind since the first moment he'd seen her that night at the bottom of the stairs at the Talon.

She was directing some waiter, instructing him on how the hour d'oeuvres should be presented or something. He didn't really remember, he'd been too caught up in gawking at her – clad in red, her hair pinned up on the back of her head, her bangs pulled to the side.

She looked literally breathtaking. His mother had had to elbow him a couple of times before he'd managed to blurt out something completely incoherent.

After a few minutes he'd gotten a hold of himself and had leaned in shyly. She'd jumped back immediately mouthing: _'Chloe's here!'_

She still hadn't told her.

They'd agreed that they wouldn't keep their relationship from Chloe and Lois had been left in charge of telling her about it. It was the perfect occasion since the two were working together planning this elaborate event. Unfortunately, with so much to do the opportunity hadn't presented itself, so here he was, standing in the same room with his to-die-for-gorgeous girlfriend and he couldn't do anything about it expect stand there awkwardly with his hands shoved in his pockets trying to control his body's reaction to her.

'So...' He cleared his throat coming to stand next to her, his eyes now following some random person in the middle of the crowd. '...have you told her yet?'

'For the fifth time... no.' She replied exasperated.

He'd been asking her that question the entire night and every time he would stand too close to her. How was she supposed to do her job or even be able to think straight if he was always there, smelling like… She instinctively inhaled and slitted her eyes at the sensation rushing through her…

'Every time I try to talk to her Jimmy's there.' She grumbled fidgeting with her champagne glass. 'It's like he's surgically stuck to her.'

'Ok, then I'll distract him while you...' He trailed off when their eyes met.

This was getting harder and harder by the second.

_'Literally.'_ He thought painfully.

'Good plan.' She said a little breathless as well.

'I better...'

'Yeah...' She swallowed dryly as he began walking away finally able to breathe a little easier.

She waited until Clark found the young couple and watched as he spoke to Jimmy. After a few of minutes the two men walked away giving Lois the chance to slip in and:

'Hey, cuz! Amazing party, huh?' She began with a toothy smile.

'It really is amazing, I'm so proud of you!'

'Us!' Lois corrected raising an eyebrow.

'Yeah, us.' Chloe agreed with a huge grin.

'We make one hell of a team, don't you think?' Lois boasted.

'The perfect team.'

'To the Chlo-lo team!' Lois toasted clinging her glass against her cousin's who just giggled and repeated: 'To Chlo-lo!' before taking a sip of her champagne.

They stood silently watching the commotion in the room. Only thirty minutes till 2007.

'So…' Lois started trying hard to keep the nervousness from her voice. 'You and Jimmy… You seem happy.'

Chloe's smile broadened at that.

'Very.'

'Good, that's good.' Lois muttered fingering the top of her glass.

'Lois? Is everything ok?' Chloe questioned noticing the uneasiness in her cousin.

'Oh, I'm fine.' She could barely get it out.

'Is there something-'

'Hey! These shrimp thingies are delicious!' Jimmy's exclaimed suddenly popping out of nowhere chewing greedily on one of the hour d'oeuvres while holding two or three more in a napkin.

Lois' gaze darted dangerously toward Clark who showed up behind him. He simply shrugged defensively, bringing his eyebrows together for an apologetic look.

'Do you want some?' Jimmy asked shoving his hand in front of Lois and Chloe.

'Hmm… no thanks.' Lois wrinkled her nose as the four now stood together.

Chloe and Jimmy made revolting googly eyes at one another while Clark and Lois remained rigidly straight trying to figure out a way to fix the current situation.

'I thought you were supposed to distract him!' Lois gritted over her shoulder at Clark when Chloe and Jimmy began chatting.

'I did. Then he saw the shrimp thingies and just decided Chloe _had_ to taste them!' Clark explained with his gaze spreading blindly over the crowed room. 'Did you tell her?'

'We had like two minutes! Did you think I'd just pop up next to her and go – how's the party? Having fun? Oh, by the way, Clark and I are together, isn't that funny?' She hissed sarcastically with a creased brow.

Clark let his shoulders slump in frustration. This was going to be a long night.

As he took a sip of his drink his gaze drifted toward the patch of skin peeking down the middle of her torso, the slight swell giving him a glimpse of her breasts and causing his mind's eye to provide the rest of the information to complete the perfect image of her chest.

He doubled over, in a coughing fit as he choked at the memory of her sprawled on his couch, his head buried between her legs.

'Are you ok?' Chloe asked; concern for her friend averting her attention from her boyfriend.

'I'm...' cough 'ok! I just...' cough

'Smallville?' Her hand rested on the middle of his back and he jolted up at the heat that it evoked.

'I'm fine! Fine!' He hurriedly spurted, straightening up and loosening his collar.

Was it suddenly too hot in there?

'Are you sure, man? You were looking a little purplish there for a second?' Jimmy joined it.

'I'm ok.' He managed to say when every nerve ending in his body seemed to be focused on the stop on his lower back where Lois' hand was now secretly drawing small, sluggish circles.

_'Oh, that's not good.' _He thought as he felt his body react to her touch.

'I'll get you a glass of water.' Chloe offered quickly walking over to the bar.

'Do you want some of these?' Jimmy asked outstretching his hand offering the crumpled shrimp dumplings and earning a baffled look from both Clark and Lois.

He quickly retracted his hand and stuttered: 'I-I think I'm gonna help Chloe with that water.' and scurried off fretfully.

Lois was still a little puzzled at Jimmy when he disappeared into the crowd, her confused frown still marring her face as she turned to check on Clark.

'What happened? Are you-' She stopped in mid sentence when he tensely pulled away. 'What?'

'Nothing.' His reply came a little too quickly, his voice too hoarse as he adjusted his tie, trying to find a way to make inhaling a little easier.

She stared at him trying to figure out what had wound him up so tightly. When she reached for him again he stiffly stepped back.

'Smallville?'

'Could you not touch me right now?' He managed to choke out.

'Why? What's-'

That's when her eye caught the odd and large crease in the front of his pants.

'Oh!'

His cheeks burned brightly.

'Yeah, oh!'

'I'm sorry, I-I didn't...' She stuttered nervously fidgeting with her bangs. 'W-why is it...?'

'Why do you think?' He gave her a look as he pulled at his tuxedo trying desperately to make it cover his crotch.

'But I didn't do...'

'You're standing less than two feet from me...' He found his eyes wandering back to the valley between her breasts and quickly slipped off the jacket and folded it in front of his groin.

'So?' She was still a bit lost.

'So?!' He was getting desperate.

Was she completely oblivious to the effects she had on him?

Slowly the wheels turned in her mind.

'Oh, so just because I'm standing close...'

'Too close.' He pointed out taking another step back.

Wow! She knew he was attracted to her but...

'So...' Her own cheeks gained a healthy shade of red while her lips curled for a lopsided smirk. '...this happens often?'

'If you're standing next to me and touching me?'

She nodded.

'All the time.' He admitted dropping his gaze in shame.

'Wow!' Her eyes widened.

'It's not funny, Lois!' He grumbled when he saw the smile on her face.

'It's a little funny.' She grinned widely.

'No, it's not. It's...' He shifted uncomfortably. '... painful.'

'Oh, I'm sorry, honey!' She changed her demeanour running a supportive hand over his shoulder.

He groaned in a mixture of pleasure and pain, his eyes rolling back slightly:

'Lois, you're making it worse!'

Her hand instantly retracted as if burnt.

'Oh, sorry!'

The seconds ticked by until she spoke:

'We really should tell Chloe. Do you think you could distract Jimmy-?'

'Lois, I can't move right now!' He pointed out with an angry scowl.

'Ok, ok!'

She anxiously tapped her heel on the floor eyeing him pitifully for a few moments before blurting:

'What about now?'

'Lois!' He growled. He'd actually growled.

'Ok, fine... Geez!' She sighed puffing her bangs out of her eyes, crossing her hands over her chest as she waited.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 39**

Seeing her chance, Lois inhaled deeply and stepped up behind Chloe.

'Hey!' She greeted.

A bit startled, Chloe turned and beamed.

'Having fun?'

'Tons.' Chloe replied.

'Hmm… Chloe…'

'Yeah?' The small blonde looked up taking in the apprehension in her cousin's face.

'We need to talk.' Lois managed to pull out of her clenching throat.

She anxiously turned her glass in her hands as she tried to find the right words. Her brow creased in confusion when she caught a glimpse of a smile in Chloe's face.

Their gazes locked and Lois struggled to read the look on her face. Chloe calmly took a sip of her champagne. She swallowed before turning to her cousin and asking:

'About Clark?'

Lois' heart seemed to stop, her eyes bulging out in shock.

'You know?!'

'What do I know?' She mischievously popped her eyebrow at her.

'Chloe… I…'

'Relax. I'd been expecting this for quite some time.' Chloe assured her eyeing her best friend with a more serious expression.

'You have?'

'Come on, it was pretty obvious from the get go. When it comes to expressing affection for guys you have the emotional development of a five year old pigtailed girl shoving boys in the sandbox.'

'Ok, this is ridiculous! You too? Was everyone in on it except me and Smallville?' Lois protested a little peeved.

'You two were constantly dancing around the issue. It wasn't anyone's fault but your own.'

'I guess…'

There was a moment of pause before Chloe spoke:

'So… I'm betting it happened about two months ago during a special assignment in a certain spiritual retreat?' She guessed.

'How did you know?' Lois' eyes widened. 'Clark told you, I'm going to kill him!'

'Hold your horses Miss Lane!' Chloe halted her cousin by hooking her hand around her arm. 'He didn't tell me anything. It was kinda hard not to pick up on the ever growing tension between you two. That's all.'

Lois relaxed, letting her guard drop as relief washed over her. Chloe wasn't mad or hurt. That was good.

She watched her closely and realised that neither was Chloe jumping for joy at the news.

'So…' Lois started.

Realising what she was fishing for Chloe put on an understanding smile:

'I'm happy for you both.'

As always Lois couldn't help spilling out the truth.

'You don't look very happy.'

'Of course I'm happy. The two of you are my best friends in the world. I couldn't be happier that you finally got over the _I hate you_ phase of your relationship and decided to… get together.'

Lois almost believed her. Her voice sounded genuine enough, her tone was steady but there was something in her eyes, a look, a hint of hesitation.

'Chloe… I love you. It's very important for me to know how you really feel about this. If you still have feelings for Clark…' The words seemed to choke in her chest at the thought. '… I'll put an end to this-'

'No! No!' Chloe instantly stopped her. 'I don't… I mean…' She took a deep breath trying to get her thoughts organised. 'I love Clark.' She tilted her head catching Lois' gaze. 'But I'm not in love with him. I was for a long time, believe me...' She couldn't help chuckling a bit embarrassed at the memories. '...but now... I'm not. Trust me!'

She wasn't lying, Lois could tell, but there was something else and Chloe knew that Lois had caught it. Being Lois Lane she wasn't going to let go of it until she got her answer, so the young reporter tried to give her the best explanation she could afford:

'I'm really happy for you guys. Clark is an amazing person. He's the best! But he's also...'

Lois waited.

'It's complicated.'

'Complicated?'

'There are things in his life that are-'

'Oh!' Realisation struck her. 'You're worried about his secret!'

Chloe's eyes bugged out and she froze with her mouth gaping.

'The ET heritage?'

'Um...'

'He told me.' Lois explained leaving her cousin even more flabbergasted.

'He- he what?'

'Kal-el, Krypton, nasty little green stones... the whole shebang! I got the scoop on it!' Noticing that her cousin wasn't speaking and doubting that she was even breathing properly Lois leaned in concerned: 'Chloe, are you-'

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as she suddenly found herself trapped between two very strong arms.

'Um... Chloe?'

That was a tight hug.

A little too tight.

'Chloe... breathing... becoming an issue... air!'

Eventually she let go and Lois inhaled sharply a couple of times before her fuzzy vision focused on a wildly grinning Chloe.

'I can't believe he told you! I'm so happy! Oh thank God! I thought I was going to have to go through this whole thing lying to you like with Lana. You can't imagine how hard it was to see it eating away at both of them and not being able to do anything about it. It was heartbreaking! I mean, he really cared about Lana and-

'Can we not talk about Lana?' Lois cut her off when she felt her blood begin to boil.

'Oh, right! Sorry!' Chloe apologized still smiling broadly.

She was indisputably happy for them.

'When did he tell you?' She asked as excited as only Chloe Sullivan could get.

'Well, he had to once a regular make out session became airborne.'

'What?!'

'Once… actually twice. While we were… you know… kissing and-'

'You can skip the gory details, please.'

'While we were more affectionate… he just… started… floating.'

'Clark flew!' Chloe shouted.

'Say that a little louder, why don't you? I don't think they heard you in Bangladesh.'

'Sorry.' Leaning nervously she whispered. 'Clark flew?'

Lois nodded.

'While you two…?'

Another nod.

'Did he fly after that?'

'Nope. Only those two times.' Noting the enthusiasm in her cousin's face Lois questioned: 'Why are you so excited?'

'So the only times he flew were while…'

'Yes, we've established that!' Lois sighed, exasperation taking over.

'Wow!'

Suddenly Chloe's eyes went from amazed to intrigued as they scanned Lois up and down, as if seeing her in a different light.

'Chloe, you're freaking me out! What is it?'

'Do you know what this means?'

'I should save money for a helmet to prevent future concussions?' Lois mocked.

Chloe rolled her eyes at her cousin's odd sense of humour.

'He's finally accepting his destiny. He's accepting who he is, he doesn't feel like he has to hide it, or be ashamed of it… he can be himself… with you.'

Lois just stared clueless at her cousin.

'Lois, Clark's in love with you!'

All the air seemed to get instantly sucked out of her room, her heart stopping for a second, before she retreated back to the comfort of her favourite defence mechanism – sarcasm.

'Yeah, he's just head over heels over me.'

'_Please just laugh, please just laugh.'_ Lois mentally begged her.

But Chloe's expression remained sober.

'Lois, he thinks you're the one he's meant to be with.'

'The one?' Lois scoffed with a forced laugh.

'You're the one.' Chloe repeated without a hint of a smile and Lois felt her stomach flip-flop wildly, her pulse raced, her breathing became shallow and erratic.

'Well, flocks I guess this is it!' The DJ's voice boomed from ever corner in the Talon. 'Let the count down for 2007 begin.'

'Oh, I have to find Jimmy.' Chloe said giddily. She still couldn't believe it, Clark loved Lois! Really loved her! She halted in mid stride when she saw the look on Lois' face. 'Are you ok?'

'Yeah.' She gasped the words. 'I'm fine.'

Her vision was becoming fuzzy again as she watched her cousin get swallowed into the crowd.

'10...'

'_Clark's in love with you!'_

Chloe's words slowly sank in.

'9… 8…'

She looked blindly, failing to recognize anyone in the multitude of smiling faces. Everyone quickly paired up while she was left alone, getting bumped into, left and right.

'7… 6… 5…'

'_He thinks you're the one he's meant to be with_.'

'4… 3…'

No familiar faces while her stomach insisted on twisting into knots, her throat closing up at a sudden fear, her chest constricting painfully.

'2…'

Where was he? Why wasn't he there?

'1!'

She froze as a hand suddenly clasped around her wrist and turned her around, blue eyes staring down at her before full lips crashed over hers.

_'You're the one!'_

'Happy New Year, everyone!'

She grasped at the lapels of his tuxedo, clawing up to his neck until she wrapped her arms around him, desperately pulling him in, frantically deepening the kiss, anxious to quench the dilacerating pain that had settled in her chest at the prospect of not having him there with her.

After a long time, he pulled away and hugged her, his face burying itself in the crook of her neck as he whispered:

'Happy new year, Lois!'

Her eyes fell closed. She was finally able to breathe and then he said it! It was a mere whisper and she could have pretended that she hadn't heard it, but the frenetic reaction of her heart pounding against his chest wouldn't let her deny that she'd heard it, low but clear in her ear:

'I love you.'

She just froze.

**Chapter 40**

Letting out a long sigh she flopped on her back and stared at the ceiling, much like she'd been doing for the last few nights.

Two weeks. Two very complicated weeks had slothfully drifted by after that night. The night when he'd told her he loved her; the night when her entire world was turned upside down; the night when she'd simply frozen and said nothing.

It had been awkward and uncomfortable when he'd pulled back and met her eyes. They'd stood there, gazes locked as everything around them seemed booming and roaring. Eventually, his mom had interrupted them to wish them a Happy New Year.

They hadn't said anything after that.

And now here they were. Pretending everything was just fine and dandy. And to some extent it was true. They were officially a couple, they were happy... very happy... most of the times. They would spend time together, as much as they could, considering she had recently become swapped with work.

Mrs. Kent had embarked on an ambitious new project to help under founded schools in the county. It was an exciting time and seeing the Senator's eagerness and dedication only fuelled Lois' interest and passion for it. With Bruce Wayneand Oliver Queen's seal of approval the project had a big chance of being successful. The problem was that as a direct result of their support, Lois found herself having to work in close proximity with Oliver and let's just say that spending more time with your ex than with your current boyfriend did put some extra strain on the new relationship.

But even so, that didn't seem to be the biggest issue between Clark and Lois.

There was still the fact that their make out sessions in the loft had to always be cut short because of Clark' petrifying fear of hurting her. As the maddening tension built between the two, those sessions were less and less effective at smothering their lusty urges for one another and instead becoming more and more frustrating.

Add to that Lois' paralyzing inadequacy in dealing with her feelings and they seemed to have the perfect cocktail for disaster.

Needless to say, being swapped with work, sexually and emotionally frustrated and not being able to sleep for more that two hours a night Lois was exhausted.

And she had a plane to catch in the morning.

'Perfect!' She grumbled realising she was going to have another night of tossing and turning.

Quarter to six in the morning.

That was the time he read on is wrist watch. He could hear his mother's alarm clock being switched off.

She was up.

And so was Lois. Well, Lois hadn't slept tonight, he was pretty sure of that. Just like the last few nights he'd stayed up, lying on the couch listening to her tossing and turning.

This was bordering on pathological. They needed to talk. But it wouldn't be today, or for the next five days that she'd be in Star City with his mother.

His stomach crunched, much like it had been doing since he'd first heard about the trip. She was going to be staying at Oliver's house for five whole days and four long nights.

He shook his head as his jealous mind began providing seedy scenarios of what could happen when two ex-lovers were forced into a situation like that. It was ridiculous to even think about it. Lois would never do that. She cared about him.

Even though she'd never said it.

He pressed his fingers against his closed eyelids. He couldn't think about this anymore. It was starting to give him a headache.

Getting up, he dragged his feet to the kitchen sink splashing some water on his face before preparing the coffee machine.

After twenty minutes his mother was coming down the stairs to join him. She placed her bags on the floor near the door and then entered the kitchen.

'Good morning, sweetheart. Oh, you made breakfast.' Martha beamed kissing her son on the forehead and sitting down at the table next to him.

Taking a French toast and pouring some orange juice she spoke:

'I've made soup for you, it's in the fridge and you have lunch and dinner frozen in the freezer. There is also-'

'Mom, I've been home alone before. I'm not going to starve to death and I promise no wild partying when you're gone.' He joked half heartedly.

'A mother never stops worrying even when her son is completely grown up.' Martha replied.

'Good morning.' Lois greeted with a groggy voice.

Her hair was wet and dishevelled, her eyes were puffy and red from lack of sleep but he still thought she looked beautiful as she came down those stairs and plopped down her huge bag next to Martha's

'Good morning, Lois.' Mrs. Kent replied. 'Are you ready? The driver should be here any minute.

'Yeah, I'm ready.' She mumbled opening the front door and picking up the day's paper.

She sluggishly dragged her feet back to the kitchen and leaning in to give Clark a quick peck on the lips.

'Morning.'

'Morning, Lois.' He smiled as she plopped down next to him.

She looked exhausted.

'Aren't you going to have anything to eat?' Martha inquired when the young woman focused her attention on the paper she held and didn't make a move for any of the delicious food displayed in front of her.

This wasn't normal. By now she should have a plate stacked up with at least two French toasts and three pancakes. Something was off.

Clark had noticed too and he watched closely as her eyes grew wide.

'What's wrong?' He asked running his hand over the small of her back.

'I can't believe this!' She breathed setting down the paper in the middle of table so Martha and Clark could read the headline – Metropolis' number one bachelor announces engagement.

Lois' eyes never left his face. Her heart and lungs seemed to stop as she waited for his reaction. She remained as calm and collected as she could when she saw his eyes grow wide when he recognised Lana and Lex in the large picture in front of him and the information slowly seeped n - Lana and Lex were getting married.

'Oh, my God!' Martha covered her mouth as her gaze remained fixed on the front page of the Daily Planet.

Lois ignored her, her attention completely focused on Clark who remained hard to read. He didn't say anything for a long time. It was making the hairs in the back of her neck stand.

'She's marrying Lex.' He finally spoke stating the obvious.

There was a long pause before his eyes darted to Lois.

'I can't let her do this.'

Her heart sank at the words.

'She's making a mistake.'

Lois kept her face as void of emotion as possible even though she felt like her lungs had collapsed and no mater how hard she tried she couldn't pull air back into them.

'She's my friend. I can't let her do this.' He kept his eyes on her.

The way he spoke made her stomach turn, trying to come up with all these reason's, trying to justify what he was about to do; what he wanted to do.

He didn't have to ask her for permission. He was free to do whatever he wanted.

She clenched her teeth as she fought to keep the anger and hurt bottled up inside.

Martha watched as the two stared at each other in silence and couldn't help but intervene.

'Lana is a grown woman, son. She is free to make her own choices and if she wants to marry Lex... that's her prerogative.'

He turned to face his mother as he replied:

'But she's making a mistake. Lex is going to make her life miserable.'

'Honey, you can't save people who don't want to be saved.' Martha argued.

Clark was about to respond when there was a knock on the door.

'Our ride's here.' Lois spoke, jumping off the stool and walking over to her bag.

Clark's hand on her arm forced her to come to a halt and face him.

'I can't let her do this. She's my friend.'

'You've said that already.'

As she set her mouth in a straight line he could see the muscles in her jaw line contracting.

'You do what you think you should do. If you think you need to help her...'

'I do.'

'Then go.' That was the last thing she said before pulling away.

Wordlessly, she picked up her bag and walked out the door.

Clark's painful gaze fell on his mother, pleading with her to tell him that he was making the right thing, but she didn't.

Silently, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the forehead before taking her own bags and walking out of the house.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 41**

He walked briskly through the myriad of desks and newspaper employees until he reached her section. She wasn't there.

Damn it! He really needed to talk to her.

He jumped up when a folder came out of nowhere to slap him in the arm.

'What the hell were you thinking?' He turned to see a very pissed Chloe staring daggers up at him.

'What?'

'You went to talk to Lana?!'

'Oh!'

'Yeah, oh!' She rolled her eyes at him coming around her desk and dropping the folder with an angry thud.

'Did you talk to her?' He choked out the words.

'Talk to whom?'

She wasn't going to make this easy on him.

'You know who I'm talking about. I tried calling her but she doesn't pick up.' He explained with slumped shoulders.

'Can you blame her? The minute you find out your ex-girlfriend is engaged you're up and running to try and stop her. What did you expect?' Chloe was really irritated and she didn't try to hide it.

'You don't understand. I needed to talk to Lana. Tell her she's making a mistake.'

'And did it work?' She questioned crossing her arms over her chest as she waited for an answer.

'No.'

'What did she say?'

'She said it was her life, her decision to make. Lex made her happy and she was going to marry him.'

'Really? It was her life? Her decision to make?' Her voice dripped with sarcasm. 'And here I thought that it was a group thing, you know? She had to consult all of her friends, get the approval from the ex-boyfriend before she went through with it.'

'That was harsh.' He muttered weakly looking up at her with a hurt glint in his eyes which made her melt immediately.

She let out a long sigh and came around the desk once again to stand next to him.

'Here, sit down.'

Taking his hand she directed him to the chair in front of her and he took a seat while she leaned against her writing table.

'Clark, you have to realise that what you did...' She paused. 'It's not you're problem anymore.' She said a little softer.

'I know. I just think that she's making a mistake.' He insisted with his eyes buried in his large hands.

'Maybe she is, but it's her mistake to make. You can't do anything about it.' Chloe continued as she looked down at him. 'You have to take a breather from this whole 

hero-complex thing you've got going. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved.'

He chuckle weakly.

'What?'

'My mom said that.'

'Yeah, well Mrs. Kent is a wise woman.' Chloe sighed in relief when she saw an allusion to a smile on his lips.

'I had to talk to Lana. She was a good friend. I thought I owed her.' He tried to justify himself.

'Maybe you're right.' Chloe reluctantly agree.

There was a moment of silence before he asked:

'Is she really mad?'

'More hurt than mad.'

'That's worse.' It wasn't a question, he knew her well enough to know that it was true.

'On the Lois Lane scale?' Chloe widened her eyes to emphasize her last statement. 'Way worse!'

Seeing the look of fear in him she continued:

'But she'll get over it.'

Their eyes met and she added:

'She knows you love her.'

He dropped his gaze and couldn't help letting out an aching laugh at that. His eyes snapped back to the small blonde in front of him when he heard her utter:

'She loves you too, you know?'

He gulped.

'She does?'

'She didn't tell me in so many words.'

His chest deflated.

'But trust me... I know my cousin better than anyone and she's definitely in love with you, Clark Kent.'

She smirked when she saw his lips twist for a smile.

'She wouldn't be this messed up if she wasn't. She's just scared.'

'Of what?' He asked innocently.

'She's never felt anything like this before. She's never allowed herself to feel it. Lois is very guarded; when it comes to her emotions she's a control freak and she knows that _this_ she definitely can't control so it scares the living daylight out of her.'

'Do you think she'll forgive me?'

'I'm sure she will.'

His smile slowly turned into his trademark goofy grin as he tentatively inquired:

'So... you think she's in love with me.'

She rolled her eyes at him.

'She's crazy about you. Now get off your ass and take me to lunch. I'm starving!' She stood up straight and picked up her purse.

Clark quickly followed her, still beaming as he felt an intense rush going through him.

'You're buying!' He heard her announce over her shoulder.

'Why me?!'

'You have a lot of making up to do, you might as well start by kissing up to the loving and supportive cousin. That should get you some points.'

He paced around in circles, his eyes darting to the small device on the kitchen counter. Coming to a halt he pressed his sweaty hands together before reaching for it. He quickly dialled the familiar number and waited.

_'Pick up, pick up, pick up.'_ The words drummed in his brain.

He froze when he heard someone answer.

'Hello?!' He exclaimed not caring that his voice was feeble and restless.

There was no answer but he could hear her breathing.

'Lois... Please... talk to me...' He begged. 'I'm sorry.'

He could tell she was holding her breath now probably wondering whether or not to respond.

'Lois... I shouldn't have let you go without an explanation...'

She remained silent. Well, at least she wasn't hanging up on him.

He exhaled sharply.

'I needed to see Lana-'

Click! The maddening sound of a busy signal followed. She'd hung up on him.

Maybe mentioning Lana wasn't the smartest thing to do, he realised.

He quickly redialled the name but this time he was greeted by an unfamiliar and almost robotic voice:

_'We're sorry, the number you've dialled-'_

He hung with a sigh.

'Great, just great!'

'Everything ok?'

Oliver's question caused her eyes to dart from her cell phone to the man sitting next to her.

'Fine.'

She could see the smirk pulling his mouth to the side.

'What?' She demanded.

'Already fighting?' He wondered. 'I would have thought that you two would still be in the honeymoon stage of the relationship. But then again you were never a regular couple.'

'Have you contacted Senator Matthews yet?' She ignored him and went right back into work mode.

'Ok, butting out now.' He said raising his hands up in sign of surrender.

'Good. Cause we have a lot of work to do tonight.' She didn't even look up at him, her attention completely focused on the pile of papers spread out on top of the table in front of them.

He had to talk to her. He couldn't leave things as they were.

He made a move to retrieve his jacket when suddenly he came to a halt.

But maybe she needed space.

God, he sucked at this! He didn't know what to do. He knew what he wanted to do though.

He wanted to see her.

Without giving it a second thought he snatched the jacket from the hanger and super-sped out of the house toward Star City.

The black lettering in front of him began to slowly fuse together in an incomprehensible jumble of words and soon so did the lines until all he could see were smudges of dark ink on the sheets he held.

Putting down the files he looked up to find Lois sitting on the couch next to him, her head droopily hanging over the back of the sofa, her mouth gaping open and he was pretty sure that was a string of drool coming out of the corner of her mouth. He smiled. She must have been exhausted, poor thing.

He could tell that she'd been pretty upset over her fight with Clark. She'd barely been able to focus on anything, repeating questions she'd already gotten the answer to.

When her back started to protest after five hours of sitting in an uncomfortable chair leaning into a table they decided it would be more effective if they moved the work area to the couch in front of the fireplace. The combination of inviting warmth and the smooth texture of leather proved too enthralling to resist and soon she was snoring up a storm next to him. She'd tossed a couple of time before falling into the deep slumber he found her in now.

Shaking his head he scooted over and was about to scoop her into his arms when she slumped against him, her head finding the perfect pillow in his chest, her face burrowing into the comfort of his shirt.

'Lois... Wake up...' He was barely able to say the words.

He was so tired he literarily couldn't see straight. The idea of carrying her and his worn out body up that ridiculously long flight of stairs seemed daunting, even for Green Arrow.

They could just crash there. The room was warm and she looked pretty comfortable from were he was.

'I'm definitely not moving.' He decided with a yawn.

So they would wake up with a little backache, what harm could that do?

Overtaken by sleep and fatigue he didn't even notice the man standing just outside the window, his hands fisted so tight the knuckles turned white, his jaw clenching as his blue eyes took in the sight of his girlfriend and her ex-lover cuddling up on the couch.

He stood there for three excruciating minutes going through a strange succession of emotions that ranged from shock, to anger and range until all that was left was this chest constricting ache that stung every time he tried to inhale.

**Chapter 42**

'Thanks.'

'Thank you and have a lovely evening.'

Lois nodded and as the taxi drove away she turned to face the familiar farmhouse. Picking up her bag she slowly walked along the short trail that lead up to it and up the front steps. As always, even though it was ten o'clock at night, the door was unlocked.

She twisted the knob and let herself into the lit living room. Her heart spiked a few beats when she saw him in the kitchen, at the sink, his back to her as he washed the dishes.

Hesitantly, she made her way to the kitchen and waited; she waited ten excruciating seconds before he turned around and saw her.

He froze when his eyes met hers. The only thing she could read in his face was shock. He didn't say anything, he didn't move, just stood there with a glass and a towel in hand. It was making her nervous.

'I didn't think I'd be able to sneak up on you.' She said with a fretful smile.

He remained silent and an altered.

'You know, with the whole super-hearing thing.' It wasn't that she felt the need to elaborate on her previous statement; it was pretty self-explanatory; she simply required to fill in the agonizing stillness that had settled between them.

'I get it.' He finally spoke.

He turned around and finished drying the glass he held before placing it back in the cabinet.

'What are you doing here?' He asked after a long pause. 'I thought you were supposed to stay for five days.'

Lois frowned. What was going on? Why was he acting this way?

'Um... Things went better than expected. We managed to get a lot done yesterday and today. Plus a couple of meetings got bumped to next week so your mom though it would be ok if I came home early.' She spoke distractedly too busy watching as he moved around the kitchen drying the rest of the dishes.

'So my mom stayed?'

Why wasn't he looking at her?

'Yeah, she'll be home tomorrow night. She has a meeting with Bruce Wayne tomorrow afternoon.'

After a couple of minutes she had had it. She shook her head.

'Clark!' She called when he refused to meet her gaze. 'What's going on?'

He was finished with the dishes and he dismissively dropped the towel on the counter.

'What do you mean?' He clenched his teeth together when he felt the nonchalant facade start to crumble as he was forced to glance at her.

Her face was marred by a look of confusion and uncertainty.

He'd missed her so much.

'What do I mean?' She repeated incredulous. 'I come home early to surprise you and all I get is a dry _what are you doing here_?'

Confusion and uncertainty were quickly replaced by rage.

His response was to walk past her without a word and leave her in the kitchen to climb up the stairs.

She remained paralyzed for a few moments and before she was able to snap herself out of it he was coming back down with a bunch of sheets and pillows under each arm.

She followed him into the living room where he dumped all the paraphernalia he was carrying onto the couch and started making his bed.

'Clark!' She called when he refused to meet her gaze.

'What?' The word came out a little harsher than he'd expected.

'What? I think you just stole my line there.' Lois noted looking down at him in disbelief while he continued to make his bed. 'What's going on? Why are you acting this way?'

'Acting like what?' It was getting harder and harder to sound calm and collected.

'Like total idiot!' She snapped at him.

He just needed to keep his eyes on the sheets he was spreading out. He couldn't look at her or-

''Why are you pissed?'

'Who says I'm pissed?' He fisted his hands into the fabric, pulling at it a little too forcefully until it ripped.

'Right... You're not pissed at all.' She jibbed sarcastically.

'Lois, what do you want?' He sighed but still kept his gaze away from her.

'I wanna know why you won't even look at me.'

'I'm making by bed.' He replied; the anger seeping into his one.

'Do you have to do it while we're fighting?'

'We're not fighting.'

Lois had to pause for a second and get a grip on herself otherwise she would soon find herself trying to choke her boyfriend regardless that she knew it wouldn't be very effective.

'Last time I checked I wasn't the one who went running back to my ex-girlfriend.'

He jerked his wrists at her remark and successfully ruined another sheet.

'Oh, really.' He said gruffly, ignoring the damage he was causing to his mother's bed linens.

'And just what's that supposed to mean?'

'I think you know.'

'Um... No, not really!'

'Try a little harder.'

'Ok, you're going to have to quit with the _oh! so subtle_ insinuations and just come right out and tell me what the hell's wrong with you!' By the end of that sentence she was almost shouting at him.

Suddenly he was in her face, towering over her, startling her with his swiftness and his unexpected proximity.

'I saw you!'

She was still catching her breath from the initial scare when she asked:

'You saw me?'

'Last night.' He gritted pinning her with his eyes and causing her stomach to contract wildly.

'Last night? I was...'

'Cuddling up with your ex-boyfriend.'

That threw her for a loop.

'Last night? Cuddling up with... What are you talking about? How-? You were in Star City last night?'

Her mind was swarming with questions and the fact that his face was three inches from hers wasn't helping.

'I went there to-'

A light bulb went up.

'You were spying on me?!'

'No, I went there to talk to you because you wouldn't answer the phone!' He raised his voice. 'And when I got there you were...' He was forced to trail off as the words seemed to get caught in his throat at the memory.

'How dare you spy on me?'

'Well, apparently I had reasons to.'

Her eyes widened dangerously at him.

'You just made the quantum leap from idiot to full-fledged asshole!' She stared daggers up at him. 'One - I was working late last night and I dozed off on the couch. I don't remember cuddling up to anybody, much less Oliver. Two - even if I did, this so does not compare to running after my ex-boyfriend to stop him from getting married.'

'How many times do I have to say this? Lana was my friend and she-'

'This has nothing to do with whether or not Lana was your friend. This has to do with your pathologically self-righteous need to butt into other people's lives and dictate to them what is right and what is wrong.'

'Lana is alone and vulnerable.'

This was too much, how delusional could he be about the girl that up until very recently he claimed to be madly in love with? He didn't even know her!

'Lex is manipulating her and-'

'Oh, for the love of God!' She growled cutting him off once again. 'You have this twisted, sugar coated, fantasy image of a Lana that doesn't even exist. She's not a helpless little girl, Lana is _not_ vulnerable, she knows how to fend for herself. When you lose your parents at such a young age you become a master in the art of self-preservation.' She could feel the ache crawling its way through her ribcage, paralyzing her muscles and forcing her to rip the words from her chest. 'Believe me I speak from experience. You learn to be guarded about everything in your life, especially your feelings. You learn to choose _very_ carefully who you let in since you can't afford the luxury of getting hurt. And you know why? Cause if you do, you 

know,' She emphatically repeated the last words. 'you _know_ there won't be anyone there to pick up the pieces.'

As the rage and pain welled up in her eyes he knew she wasn't talking about Lana anymore.

She inhaled sharply and stared intensely up at him as she added:

'Even though some times you do make rookie mistakes...' She spat out. 'you also learn to _never_ make them again.'

With that she turned around and began to leave but he hastily chased after and caught up to her in a second.

'Lois! Lois, wait!' He choked out when he realised he was about to lose her.

She jerked away from his hand when it reached for her, but he clasped onto her arm and wouldn't let her go making her turn and burn her painful gaze into him. She tried to pry herself from his grasp, but as much as she struggled she soon found herself trapped as he held her by her shoulders.

'Lois, I'm sorry, please forgive me.' He didn't care if he was begging, if he sounded pathetic and weak. 'I'm so sorry. I didn't know- I didn't think it-'

'Let go of me.' The words were barely audible as she continued to fight him.

'No, Lois, listen to me! I don't want to lose you.'

'It's too-'

His heart stopped, his eyes grew wide and glassy.

'Don't say that!' His frantic hands blindly pawed their way from her shoulders to the crook of her neck, to force her to look up at him. 'Don't-' He suddenly found that he couldn't breathe at the prospect of losing her. 'I can't... I love you!'


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 43**

Lois' struggle came to a screeching halt at his words. If she thought they'd been overwhelming when he'd whispered them in her ear in the middle of a crowded room, they seemed a hundred times more powerful now that he'd said them staring desperately at her.

'Please! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you like that.' He was at a loss for words.

She was just gawking up at him, without saying a word, her face impossible to read. Had he changed her mind?

'I was stupid... I-I was an idiot, a-'

'-full fledged asshole?'

He'd never felt so glad to be interrupted as he did now; a glimmer of hope sparking inside of him.

'Yes!' He agreed nodding vehemently. 'A full fledged asshole, that's me.'

He melted when he saw her lips spread for a minute smile.

'I'm so sorry.' He gasped leaning his forehead against hers.

She closed her eyes, breathing in the moment, scrambling to make sense of the myriad of conflicting emotions competing for her undivided attention.

She felt so tempted to just give in and forget, but the survival instinct in her insisted on reminding her of the suffocating hurt and fear he'd made her go through just a minute ago. She couldn't give him that power over her, if she did and he-

She felt him lean in from a kiss.

'Wait!' She suddenly pulled away anxiously running her hands through her face and hair trying to sober up and to put as much distance between them as possible. She needed room to think about this, to ponder what she was about to do, room to analyze her real feelings, room... to breathe.

'I can't do this.' She finally spoke.

Clark let out an exasperated gasp.

'I can't do this.' She repeated fretfully pacing around.

She stopped dead in her tracks when he was suddenly standing in front of her.

'Lois, I love-'

'Stop saying.' It wasn't an order so much as a plea.

Those words and the way he said them had a funny way of making her feel light-headed and even giddy.

'Lois...' He reached for her and she clumsily stepped back but he insisted on closing the distance between them and soon she felt her back hit the nearest cupboard.

'I know you're scared.'

Her chin jerked up proudly at that.

'I'm not scared. I'm not! I-I'm just... confused. I need to think and I can't seem to be able to do that with you standing so close, so excuse me.' She confidently marched around him, across the living room and into the kitchen.

He followed her and she jolted up straight when she found him invading her personal space.

'Clark, this is not going to work if you keep following me around like this. J-just back up.'

He frowned comically at her request.

'I'm not kidding. I'm gonna need at least three feet here.'

Reluctantly, he agreed and gave her room. He watched as she then came round the isle in the middle of the kitchen.

'And a kitchen table just to be on the safe side.' She explained when she saw the confused look he gave her.

They stood that way for a long time, one on each side of the long table, staring at each other.

He could see the conflict inside of her, the two opposing choices pulling at her. Problem was he couldn't tell which was winning.

'God, I hate this! I hate you!' She grumbled frustrated giving him an angry look.

Things weren't looking so good. He had to-

'Table length distance!' She pointed out widening her eyes at him when he made a move.

He let out a frustrated growl, his hands coming to grasp the corners of the wooden surface in order to keep himself from breaking his commitment to her.

'I hate you for doing this.'

'I said I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone to see-'

'I'm not talking about that!' She snapped. 'I'm taking about this!' She waved her hands emphatically signalling her current state. 'I'm a mess. I was perfectly fine until you came along and just turned everything upside down. I had a good, satisfying life. I liked my life. It suited me just fine. I didn't have anything to worry about. So I wasn't really goal oriented, so what? It happens in your early twenties.'

'Lois, what are you talking about?'

He could barely get the words in as she continued into another one of her incomprehensible ramblings.

'I'm talking about you and your stupid ducks!' She shouted.

'Ducks...? What?!'

'I never had ducks before! Then you come along, sneaking in through the backdoor with your endearing farm boy act, your ridiculous flannel saturated wardrobe' She looked like she was losing it. She wasn't making any sense and she was turning an unhealthy shade of blue from too much talking and panting and not enough effective breathing. 'your stupid doe eyes and...' She exhaled sharply at the memory of his scent. '...smelling like you do. Next thing I know I-' She stopped herself as fear gripped her. She couldn't say it! 'I-I have ducks!'

He was starting to get genuinely concerned.

I-I...' Her mind raced frenetically and she struggled to pull air into her tightened lungs. 'I can't breathe.'

She blinked a couple of times trying to focus her blurry vision and by the second blink she was looking up at his face.

'You better sit down.'

'I don't want to.' She refused to move.

'Lois, will you stop being so stubborn.'

Before she could protest he had picked her up and set her down on a nearby stool.

'You're hyperventilating and what you're saying has absolutely no logic. You-'

'Logic?!' She swatted the hand he'd been using to lovingly push her bangs of out her eyes and stood up, an aggravated fist punching him in the chest backing him up against the kitchen counter. 'I'm having an emotional meltdown here and you want me to bother with logic?!'

'Meltdown? Why are-?'

'Because I'm trying to tell you that I love you, you big dumb alien!' She blurted in one single breath.

The sound of wood breaking made her suddenly aware of what she'd just admitted. Her bulging eyes dropped for a second to find him holding two large pieces of wood in each of his hand behind his back. He'd been holding onto the counter for balance and in his shock he'd broken the counter.

Before she could process what was happening two booming clangs were heard and his mouth was on hers. In the hazy fog of her mind she mused that the noise was probably caused by the pieces of counter falling to the floor when his hands gripped her face and pulled her up for an urgent kiss.

His lips ravenously tugged and sucked at hers until she opened her mouth and his tongue hastily slipped inside.

She stumbled back when he pressed into hers, his arms dropping to her waist, while he continued his assault on her mouth forcing her spine to arch and causing her to lose balance.

The two stumbled clumsily, almost tumbling over. Thankfully, the kitchen table was there to prevent their fall.

Hungry and demanding fingers dug into her hips, effortlessly hauling her up and plopping her down on the isle.

Somewhere in her brain she registered a couple more crashing noises - probably the stools she'd bumped into?

Who cared when his hands were recklessly pulling and ripping her jacket and shirt clear off? When he was so greedily exploring her mouth? His teeth-

Why did he stop?

_'Oh, that's good too.'_ She decided when she felt his tongue sweeping across her earlobe.

'Say it again...'

His groggy voice so close made it impossible for her intellect to process his words.

'Wha-?' She managed to mumble.

'Say it... please...'

God, his voice sounded so sexy!

And then he stopped.

She was still a bit stunned when she met his gaze. Her lust filled brain was trying to figure out why he wasn't doing that amazing thing his tongue anymore and was just standing there, looking pleadingly at her.

'Huh?'

'Say it again...'

He wanted her to say something... what was- Oh, yeah!

She gulped, catching her breath. She wondered if she could do it but somehow the words seemed to just tumble out of her mouth. 'I love you.'

It surprised her just how easily she'd said them. It had actually sounded right and the look in his eyes…

God...! It was making her want to do things to him! Incredibly naughty things that she'd promised his mother would never happen under the roof of this house.

His mouth was back on her throat and dangerously making its way south when she rasped:

'Maybe we should go...ah!...'

He scooted her hips to the edge of the table and pressed against her.

'...the loft!' She grunted as an electric jolt from her groin spread through her entire body, making it tingle all over.

'Too... far...' He picked her up off the isle, her legs wrapping around his waist while he carried her into the living room. '...can't wait.'

And they tumbled onto the couch with a windy whoosh.

**Chapter 44**

Her head was spinning as his lips plundered their way down her throat and his hand sneaked between their bodies to undo the fastening of her pants.

Her own hands were occupied tugging at his shirt, but unfortunately weren't as efficient as his.

Frustrated, she yanked at the fabric until the buttons came flying around them causing him to stop what he was doing to look at her.

'Sorry.' She panted her not very convincing apology as she continued to struggle with his clothes.

'It's ok.' He swallowed hard when she shifted under his weight and inadvertently pushed up into his pelvis.

Noting that her fingers were still trying to rid him of his clothing, he pulled off the shirt and flung it over the back of the couch.

He held himself painfully still while her curious hands eagerly roamed along his chest and over his stomach.

She looked amazing, under him, fighting to catch her breath as she examined him with wonder. For some reason that image made it impossible for him to hold back any longer.

'Lois...' He barely rasped out her name trying to get her attention.

Realising his agonizing predicament she stopped her exploring to yank him down for another kiss.

Their tongues battled hungrily, their bodies striving to come closer, driving and pressing against each other in a heated frenzy that eventually brought them crashing to the floor.

Clark tore his mouth from hers:

'Are you ok?' He mumbled huskily when her mouth continued to trail open mouth kisses along his jaw line, her hair cascading around him.

'I fell on top of you, I'm fine.' She replied hastily not bothering to stop. 'Are you?'

'Um...' It was hard to talk when she was moving that way on top of him. 'Super-'

'Human, right!' She gasped finding his ear while he quickly began shoving her dress pants down her thighs until they came off along with her shoes.

His hands immediately returned to her thighs, his fingers digging into her flesh when her mouth assaulted his once more.

'Ah!' Lois yelped when he flipped them over without warning.

It didn't take long for her to begin trying to strip him of his jeans. The denim, however, persistently clung onto his hips so he propped himself on one elbow and the two proceeded to hurriedly push the annoying material down his legs until it joined the rest of their discarded clothes that were now spread around the living room.

Relieved of all of their constraining garments except for their underwear, they were now free to explore each other and they didn't waste a second.

Hands gripped and squeezed gluttonously along the other's body, their combined mewls and moans obliterating the silence as they thrust passionately together, her back arching off the floor when he pushed his groin into her pelvis; he was so hard and ready.

'Clark…' She cried squeezing her eyes shut, her hands slipping under the waistband of his boxers to seize his gluteus and pull his closer eliciting a guttural growl from him.

He harshly fisted his hands into her hair directing her face towards his to smash his lips against hers, his tongue invading her mouth without asking permission. She met his every move with equal fervour and zeal, losing herself in the desperate need to touch him, to taste him, to have all of him, to feel him inside-

'Gawh…' She blurted incomprehensibly broking the sinful kiss. 'Clark…' She mewled between harsh gulps of air as she tried to focus her blurry vision.

She blinked wildly up at the ceiling while he too tried to catch his breath with his head hanging down limply, his face resting in the crook of her neck, his chest expanding and retracting at a rapid and irregular rhythm.

'We have to…' gulp '…to slow down…' gasp '…we have to… oh, god! …or else I… I won't be able to… ah! …stop.' She eventually tore the words out between pants.

Her eyes rolled back when she felt him suck at the tender flesh of her neck.

'I don't want to stop.' His voice was hoarse and deep.

Her heart skipped a beat at his words and her hand felt heavy as she brought it to the back of his head and jerked him up so he would look at her.

His eyes were glassy with lust, his cheeks bared the sexiest shade of red and his mouth…

'Wha-' She cleared her throat weakly. 'What?'

His eyes dropped from hers to her mouth for a second before returning.

'I want you.'

'What about…?'

She couldn't believe this was actually happening; it took all of her strength not to pounce on him.

'I can't wait anymore.'

She couldn't agree more but she just stared up at him, her heart pounding furiously in her chest.

'We'll take it slow.' He offered shyly.

She was nodding before she even realised it.

'Slow is good.' She gulped never breaking eye contact when he began shifting on top of her, her hands gliding over his hips as she slid his boxers off.

He clenched his teeth when his cook slipped out and brushed against the cotton of her panties. It was his turn to help her get rid of her underwear, but he took his time. His fingers playing around with the elastic band was driving her insane, but eventually her knickers were bunched around her ankles and she easily toed them off.

The two took a simultaneous breath when he moved to settle between her thighs. Her eager legs hooked over his hips to pull him in and he gasped hard when his cock brushed against her sopping sex, his hand instantly gripping her pelvis to keep it from moving.

'Lois… s-slow…' He reminded her shutting his eyes tightly in search of much needed control.

Once again she nodded even though he couldn't see her. He hovered above her, one forearm resting next to her head propping him up right, his hand lost in the midst of her abundant light brown hair, the other still clinging to her hip.

He braced himself before tentatively letting his hips drop, their breaths hitching in their throats in anticipation when he positioned himself at her entrance.

'_Slow, take it slow.'_

He opened his eyelids and regretted instantly when he saw her large eyes staring back at him, pleading with him to just push inside her. How was he supposed to take this slow when this was the moment he'd been waiting for, craving for, dreaming about every night for the last two months?

He gritted his teeth at the feel of her, wet, silky and irresistibly inviting. He began to sluggishly press himself into her and it was impossible to keep eye contact. He watched in awe as her lids fell closed when his cock started to push into her tight heat, the resistance he found forcing him to increase the pressure until he was slithering inside of her, stretching her, making her face contort with aching pleasure.

He pushed harder, aware of every inch of him that slid languorously into her.

It was too much. The heat, the wetness, the way she was moaning, she was so tight… so tight and every fibber in his body begging him to just slam into her.

He had to stop and he did.

Her eyes immediately snapped open to find him with his jaw set, his eyes squeezed shut, his nostrils flaring as he tried to centre himself.

He just needed a minute. Just a minute to…

'Lois!' He groaned when he felt her spasm around him. 'Wait, just wait!' He begged not daring to open his eyes.

They lingered there and it was agonizing but eventually he moved again, with renewed control and soon he was all the way in.

She couldn't wait any longer, propping herself up on her left elbow, her right hand hooked on the back of his neck and she hauled herself up to claim his mouth.

The feel of her breasts pressed against his bare chest letting him know that her heartbeat was as uneven as his own propelled him into action.

He moaned into her mouth when he finally began to move his hips.

It wasn't long until he was slipping in and out of her, his cock mirroring the harsh and slow movements of his tongue as it pushed its way in her mouth, probing, teasing her.

Her legs desperately pulled him in, her heels digging into the back of his thighs as she shoved her pelvis into his trying to increase the pace.

Every time he drove into her the tension inside of him would build, the need to thrust harder and faster becoming too overwhelming.

'Clark…' She whimpered sucking mercilessly at his lips and scraping her nails down his back until she reached his ass, her hands avariciously clutching his cheeks while she arched into him. '…more… Ah!'

'Lois… please… slow…' He shook his head.

He had to control himself and she wasn't helping with the way she was shoving her hips into his.

'Please…' She begged biting into his lip. 'Harder!'

'Oh, God, please don't say that!' He gulped burying his face in her chest.

'Harder, Clark, harder!' She demanded thrusting upwards.

When he didn't give into her command she focused all her strength in her inner muscles and contracted them the next time he slid inside her.

'Jesus, Lois!' He swore at the sudden surge of pleasure.

'I want you so much.' She cried into his mouth and did it again.

This time his hips instinctively slammed into her.

'Yes!' She practically yelled. 'Again.'

He couldn't tell when it had happened, but he'd lost control of his actions and his yearning body had taken over as he began to avidly plunge into her, their pelvises crashing together in a feverish struggle.

From under an agonizingly guilty scowl he watched her face closely for any sign of pain but there was nothing but the most striking expression of absolute bliss every time he would slam into her.

This knowledge only fuelled his desire and he could feel himself drawing closer and closer to release.

He shook his head violently; he didn't want this to end. Not so soon, but the way she was becoming tighter and wetter he knew it would be over rather quickly so he found her lips once again.

He kissed her hard, one hand holding her face, the other bringing her leg against his hips and he continued to plunge into her over and over again until she was tearing her mouth away from his to cry out his name as she began thrashing under him; her orgasm slamming into her.

He could feel her inner muscles spasm, squeezing him and throwing him over the edge. His hips jerked dryly a couple more times before he went completely stiff and he came, the crushing pleasure taking over his body.

When she came down from her orgasm she opened her eyes to see him still dealing with his own bliss - his mouth was gaping, his eyes squeezed shut and his brows coming together over the bridge of his nose. The sight was so awe-inspiring it took her a couple of seconds to notice she wasn't feeling the floor beneath her.

Thankfully, she was becoming increasingly familiar with this and didn't scream when she realise the two were hovering a few feet above the crumpled sheets on 

the floor – her legs and arms wrapped around his hips and back and his hand behind her head keeping her from falling.

She just hoped he didn't come down from his high too quickly, or else…

She watched him closely as he slowly drifted back to reality. Much to her amazement they continued to float even though he was now looking straight at her.

As always, she felt the compulsive need to fill in the silence.

'We're… um… flying...'

When he didn't say anything just looked at her with that sappy, loving expression she adored she added:

'Um… literally?' Maybe he hadn't noticed.

He gave her his trademark nerdy smile and she almost melted at that.

'I know.'

'Oh!'

She waited, but being Lois Lane she had to ask:

'Can we go down, please?'

He was still grinning when they slowly began to drift toward the floor. Instinctively, her grip on him tightened until her back was touching the bed covers.

'This is so cool!' She couldn't help saying it. It just was! So cool! 'My boyfriend can fly! It totally sucks that I can't brag about this.' She pouted as he rolled off of her and brought the sheets to cover them. 'Well, Chloe knows so…'

'You're not gonna tell her about…?' He trailed off nervously.

'Don't worry, I don't kiss and tell.' She assured him finding a nook between his shoulder and his neck and using it was a pillow. '… much.' She added with a giggle when he groaned.

They lay in silence, their irregular breathing slowing down and becoming more even.

'This is nice.' She mumbled against his neck giving him a few sweet pecks and she could hear him hum his appreciation.

Suddenly, she shifted and scooted so she was laying on top of him.

'That's even nicer.' He smiled up at her unable to contain the glee bubbling inside him.

'Yes, it is.' She nodded smirking. 'Do you know something?'

'What?'

'You have the most gorgeous orgasm face I've seen!'

'Lois!'

She snickered proudly when she saw his cheeks turn bright red.

'You look so cute when you blush.' She continued to tease.

And he just rolled his eyes at her.

That was Lois. Always on his case and trying to embarrass him – bane of his existence… love of his life.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 45**

'What?' She demanded with a scowl setting her chin on his chest.

'Nothing.' He slurred smiling at her as she lay on top of him.

'You've been staring at me for the past five minutes with that sappy grin on.'

'So?'

'You're making me nervous!'

'I like looking at you.' He confessed.

'Really?' Her voice dropped mischievously while she sluggishly crawled along his body until she her face was inches from his. 'Just looking?'

He blushed and his smile grew wider when she leaned down to kiss him, her tongue quickly invading his mouth.

'Hmm…' He mumbled pulling away from her when things began getting a little too cosy.

There was something that had been nagging him all evening.

'Lois…' He began a little sidetracked by her lips which were now busily trailing open mouth kisses down his neck and his chest.

'Yes?' She said between distracting licks.

'Um…' He wasn't able to form an actual question so he simply breathed: 'Ducks?'

She stopped and furrowed her brow, giving him time to regain enough focus and ask:

'What did you mean with the whole duck thing?'

It was her turn to become embarrassed.

'Oh, that!' She dropped her gaze, sliding off of him. 'That was… um… nothing! Just a minor brain spasm, forget it.'

She needed to distract him. Fast. So she did what any hot blooded, shrewd woman would to in her place, she slipped her hand under the sheets, grazing over his stomach all the way down- His fingers caught her wrist putting an end to her evil escape plan.

'You're not getting off that easy.' He warned cocking an eyebrow at her when she pouted.

'It's embarrassing…' She whined. 'Plus there are a lot more interesting things we could be doing.' She tried once again bringing her body flush against his.

'Lois…'

She let out an exasperated sigh and lay down next to him, her eyes glued to the ceiling.

'Ducks in a row.' She blurted.

'Come again?'

'Ducks in a row!' She repeated. 'Goals, plans, that sort of stuff.'

She couldn't believe she was going to share this with him. She felt so stupid.

'I've never had any. Never bothered to, didn't seem to make much sense since most of the times I didn't even know what I wanted. So I just lived in the now.'

He waited for her to carry on, watching her take a long breath.

'When I first came here I was kind of off track, to put it mildly. Not much of a future, no plan, freshly kicked out of college and…' She finally turned to look at him. 'You and your parents really changed things for me. You made me realise that it was ok to want things and work for them. Not be afraid to try, it was ok to fail.'

He remained silent while she continued to explain.

'Suddenly, I started noticing all these things that I wanted but never fought for because I thought I would never get them. It was like one day I woke up and I had a plan.' She stopped and rethought her previous statement. It seemed a little bit exaggerated. 'Ok, maybe not a plan but definitely a sketch.'

'A sketch?' He questioned rolling onto his side and propping up his head on his hand.

He appeared to be genuinely interested in what she was saying.

'Of what I wanna do with my life.'

'And just what is it?'

She bit her bottom lip and narrowed her eyes at him.

'The sketch is still a little bit… sketchy.'

He smiled broadly at her and she smiled back.

'But you have ducks?' He pointed out.

'A few.'

She saw his cheeks brighten at his next question.

'Am I one of the ducks?'

She grinned.

'Definitely.'

They stared at each other for a few moments before he inquired:

'Any other ducks you wanna fill me in on?'

'Hmm… can we stop saying ducks? I keep getting this mental picture of wooden ducks lined up in a single file. It's creepy.'

He chuckled when she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

'Ok.'

'Well, I wanna go back to college.'

His expression sobered.

'That's great, Lois.'

'It's gonna be hard, but I have a little money saved up from working for the Inquisitor.' She informed.

He could see the pride beaming from her. It made her even more beautiful.

'Thank you.'

Her gratitude caught him off guard.

'For making me get off my lazy ass and actually get my life on track.'

'But I didn't do anything.'

'Oh, yes you did.' She nodded coming closer and giving him a light peck on his shoulder. After a beat she added dismissively: 'Well, your mom and dad did most of the pushing, but you kind of helped. Maybe a nudge.'

He chuckled. He knew it. She was being too nice; Lois was never that nice.

'Anyway, I plan on enrolling this semester, I'll still be working for Mrs. Kent and moonlighting for the Inquisitor so…' She waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively. 'I guess I'll just have to stay close to Hicksville, USA.'

His eyes brightened at that.

'You're going to-'

'Yep.'

Before she could pop the 'P' he was rolling them over and she found herself trapped under his weight.

'Plus, I have to make sure grabby-Annie keeps her paws off you.'

'Abby.' He corrected.

'Whatever.' She grumbled pretending to sulk.

'You look so cute when you're jealous.' He teased.

'I'm not jealous!' She exclaimed offended. 'I just don't like other people touching my things.'

'Your things?' His brow arched up comically.

'Mine.' She brought her arms possessively around his neck, her legs wrapping around his hips.

He let out a choked mewl when he felt her damp heat against him, making him almost instantly hard.

Her lips brushed along his collarbone, his lids falling closed, his mouth opening to let out a hasty gasp as he started to rub up against her.

She heard him grunt his appreciation when her teeth bit into the column of his neck, her hips shifting in a swift move that had him flat on his back and her straddling him before he knew what had happened.

'Oh, I can be pretty fast too.' She joked when she saw his surprised expression.

Her face hovered a few inches from his and her hair was like a velvety curtain surrounding them, creating the perfect cocoon to shield their kisses from the outside world.

He was slowly tumbling into that delicious state of surrender, letting his body be ruled by his seemingly incessant desire for the woman sensually gliding on top of him when she suddenly stopped.

A frustrated whine was heard in the room and he was shocked to find it had come from him. Blinking a couple of times he looked up. She was sitting up straight over his lap, unabashed by her nakedness as she spoke:

'I was thinking of taking a few writing classes.'

'Wha-?' He mumbled; his brain unable to process her words.

Did she really expect him to have a normal conversation with her sitting there, naked, straddling his bare lap with his cock straining against the inside of her thigh? She was joking, right?

'I'm really starting to enjoy this whole reporter thing. It's addictive, you know?'

She wasn't joking.

'Um…'

'_Think, think, say something.'_

'I guess…'

'At first it was more of a joke, but now…'

She seemed to be completely unaware of the excruciating effect she was having on him and she continued to absentmindedly prattle on.

'I go to visit Chloe at the Daily Planet and suddenly I'm picturing myself working there and… I don't know, it just feels… right. Like that's were I'm supposed to be.'

She was looking down at him with a fascinating glint in her eyes he hadn't seen in a long time.

'You know that desk under the skylight window?'

Suddenly, his own interest was peeked.

'Oh, the one at the end of the room near the editor's office?'

'Yeah, that one! That's my desk.'

'Hey, I like that spot too.' He protested.

'Too bad, I call dibs. You can have the one opposite it.'

He let out a loud laugh.

'What?'

'We haven't even finished college and we're already picking desks at the Daily Planet.' He clarified.

'I want that desk and I'm getting it.' She widened her eyes at him to signal her resolve.

'What about only having the sketch?'

His own smile froze when her lips curled for an impish smirk and she threw him a dangerously sexy look.

'It's getting clearer by the minute.'

She shifted in her place over his lap, playfully pressing herself down on him and this time she completely aware her actions. His hands immediately settled over her hips, squeezing her thighs and moving her so he was positioned just at the right stop. He stared straight at her when she let pelvis drop and he began slide into her. But the pace was agonizingly slow. He couldn't wait any longer. Her breath caught in her throat when he unexpectedly he thrust upwards and was completely lodged inside of her in one sharp move.

He watched in awe when, after a beat, she began to gradually heave, her hands using his chest for leverage as she rose and fell.

Her head was slightly tilted to the side, her mouth partially open drawing long and harsh breaths while her tousled hair cascaded down her back. Her exposed breasts swaying enticingly every time she moved completed the enthralling spectacle.

He could do nothing but lay there and take it, paralyzed by the continuous waves of pleasure that washed over him as she rode him slow and hard.

Gradually, the rhythm changed, growing faster, becoming unrelenting and soon he was driving up to meet her halfway, his fingers digging into her thighs as they lost themselves in the moment.

Their combined grunts and harsh pants fuelled their lust as they grinded together, one hand abandoning her thigh to capture her teasing breast. He kneaded the tender flesh while she impaled herself on him over and over again eventually driving them both over the edge.

They jerked and cried out together until her sweaty and exhausted body crashed limply against his.

In an unscripted moment of vulnerability and enlightenment she let the words tumble from her lips without any fear or hesitation:

'I love you.'

His heart, which had been hammering riotously in his chest, seemed to stop.

'I love you too.' He breathed out pulling her in for a tight hug.

**Epilogue**

'Lois, will you hurry up?' He shouted for the umpteenth time from the kitchen, picking up the two caps that rested on the counter and adjusting his clothes.

He felt ridiculous in them.

'I'm coming. Just give me a minute, Smallville!' She bellowed her reply from the top floor hopping all the way down the hall as she tried to put on her left shoe.

'Stupid robe!' She huffed when the fabric insisted on twisting itself around her legs, causing her to stumble.

Eventually, by the time she got to the top of the staircase, she'd managed to pop her foot inside her shoe.

Puffing her bangs out of her eyes she took the steps two at a time.

'Not all of us are blessed with super speed, you know?' She nagged stomping her way into the kitchen with a scowl and heading straight for the cookie jar.

'It has nothing to do with speed, just with the fact that you insist on waking up late.'

'I told you when we first met – I'm not a morning person.' She announced fishing out a couple of cookies and greedily biting down on one of them.

'I can't believe I'm going to be late for my graduation.' He complained.

'Let's hope this one doesn't involve any meteor showers!' She wished raising her eyebrows high on her forehead as she munched on her second cookie.

'Lois…'

When she simply looked up at him with a naive expression he tapped his hand on his wrist signalling the time.

'I'm going! Geez! I can't even have breakfast!' She complained letting go of the cookie jar and taking a large gulp of orange juice.

'You should have thought about that during your hour long shower.' He retorted earning a murderous look from her.

'What is taking you guys so-' Chloe stopped in mid sentence, halfway passed the threshold when she saw her cousin.

'Don't you dare laugh, Chloe!' Lois threateningly pointed her index finger at her small blonde.

'You look…' Chloe chuckled trying hard to stop herself from bursting out laughing.

'Not another word! Now, where's my cap?' She wondered walking out of the kitchen and into the living room but was halted by Clark's hand tugging at her arm.

She whipped around to see him holding two caps in his hands – his and hers.

'Oh, thanks!' She grinned and then frowned as she pondered: 'What else am I missing?'

'Nothing!' Chloe and Clark said in frustrated unison.

'Ok, ok, fine! I'm out the door!' She sighed practically being shoved out of the house by Clark. 'You guys are really nervous!'

They walked briskly towards Chloe's car. Martha was sitting in the passenger's seat.

'Finally!' She exclaimed when they arrived.

'Not you too, Mrs. Kent!' Lois griped entering the vehicle and taking her spot in the backseat next to Clark.

'What took you so long?' Mrs. Kent asked.

'She's Lois, what else do you need to know, mom?'

That comment earned him a violent elbow in his gut.

'Ouch!' Lois mumbled when the impact hurt her more than him.

Chloe turned the key in the ignition and they were finally on their way.

'Where's Jimmy?' Clark inquired watching Lois pout and rub her sore elbow.

'That is going to swell!' She pointed out.

'No, it won't.' He assured her.

'Yes, it will.' She insisted.

Outstretching her arm she ordered:

'Blow!'

He rolled his eyes. It wasn't that bad but just for good measure he reached for her ailing joint.

'Here.'

'He's already there.' Chloe answered Clark's question while he began to absentmindedly blow cold breath onto her elbow.

That felt good.

'Setting up the equipment.' Chloe clarified.

Lois jumped up straight jerking her arm away from Clark as she demanded:

'What equipment?!'

Lois' question came out a little high-pitched, evidence of her sudden alarm.

She could see her cousin grinning wildly from the rear-view mirror.

'Aw! You've got to be kidding me!'

'Nope.' Chloe continued to smile. 'Perry kept his promise. You and Clark are going to be tomorrow's front page news.'

The two backseat passengers let out a collective growl.

'I can just imagine the headline – DP's dynamic duo graduate.' Scrunching up her nose she admitted: 'Kinda lame, I know. But I've got till tonight to work on it.'

'You're in on it too?' Clark joined in the protest.

'You're writing the article?'

'Yep.'

'Will you stop with the P popping, Chloe?' Lois grumbled settling into the backseat and sulking.

She had been a reporter for the last two years and a full-fledged, graduated, diploma carrying journalist starting today. She much preferred writing the news to actually being the news.

'Isn't there anything more interesting happening in Metropolis other than the two of us graduating?' Clark asked with his eyes on his moping girlfriend.

'Yeah, didn't Lana pop out another one of baldy's kids or something?' Lois snorted.

Chloe chuckled.

'What can I say? The readers love you!' Chloe explained as they came closer to the college campus. 'They can't get enough of you two. You're the most famous reporters team since Woodward and Bernstein. And you've actually got a following!'

'Huh?'

'A following?' Clark worded out Lois' interjection.

'Yes. They call it Clois.'

'Clois?' It was Martha's turn to be confused.

'It comes from the amalgamation of your names Clark plus Lois. You take the C and the L from Clark and-'

'We get it.' Lois interrupted still a bit perplexed.

'Well, we are here.' Chloe announced proudly.

Her cousin was getting her diploma. She couldn't believe it.

The four of them exited the car. Spotting Jimmy, Chloe quickly made her way towards him, Martha trailing behind to give Lois and Clark a little privacy.

'I guess this is it…' Clark muttered in her ear coming to stand behind her.

For some reason it was only at that moment, arriving on that campus crawling with energized young people wearing the same ridiculous outfits as she and Clark had that she realised – this was a milestone in her life.

Today she was graduating from college. She didn't even want to think about tomorrow. Having to carry all those boxes? She hated moving, even if it was into a two bedroom apartment in Metropolis with the man who was now standing next to her, holding her growingly clammy hand.

Who would have thought four years ago that she would be here, now? And that she would feel so comfortable in this skin - a college graduate, renowned report for the Daily Planet, half of the famous Lois and Clark duo? For the first time she felt like she was exactly who she was supposed to be – Lois Lane!

'Are you ok?' His soft voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up at him to see him smiling.

She loved that smile and what it did to her stomach, even now, four years down the road.

'Yes, just…'

'…overwhelming?' He offered.

'Yeah!' She breathed nodding.

'Try to picture it as just another duck in that row of yours.'

She couldn't help but let out a healthy laugh.

'Thanks.' She said after a beat.

He leaned in and kissed her lightly, his mouth capturing her bottom lip for a second before letting it go so he could reply:

'Thank you.'

They held each other's gaze for a few seconds, the reality of the moment sinking in and becoming overpowering.

'Phew!' She gasped shaking off her nervousness and assuming her familiar unfazed expression. 'Well, let's do it. Who's ready for some cap tossing?' She asked strutting into the crowd of people; Clark right there, at her side.

The End

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